Non-Entrepreneurial Friends

I think in order to deal with the nay-sayers who tend to express disbelief about in your dreams, just don't discuss certain things with them, especially if it is family and you kind of "have" to be around them. Family is important, so you don't just want to cut them off entirely just because they don't have the same faith in your dreams that you do, it is your dream after all. You're supposed to believe in it. If anything, maybe feel sorry for them that they weren't blessed with the capacity to think big like how you are blessed with that skill.
On the other hand, if a dream-killer is just a (supposed) friend of yours, then you're probably doing the right thing by spending less and less time around them. Attitudes and outlooks on life can be contagious. Sometimes people can really bring you down with all of their negative vibes about what you can and can not do.

 

Your success and self-startership (not a word...coined it!) is a reflection of their lack of discipline and motivation. Every time they see you, they are seeing what they, for whatever reason, are either unwilling or unable to do. What you wrote is correct: you need to surround yourself with likeminded individuals who can offer support and guidance as you continue to grow.

Don't worry about the naysayers: like attracts like, and you'll find a new network of people that will ADD to your life, rather than detract from it.

Good luck.

 

I totally agree with you here, people and their non-self-startership (flipped your new "coined", lol) can really have a problem with you and yours. It's a very strange thing too, because "they" work really hard at getting you to see that your dreams are unattainable. It's like, if you put half the energy into attaining your own secret dreams as you are putting into trying to destroy mine, you'd be a millionaire by now.

I don't get the whole like attracts like thing, I think it is mostly cosmic, but starts to work when you make the first moves and actively start moving away from people (and bad habits) that are trying to bring you down; when you start letting your cell ring and go unanswered if your caller ID tells you that it's one of "those" people. The universe seems to 'get your drift' so-to-speak and starts bringing like-minded people your way.

 

I value non-entrepreneurial friends to a higher degree than my entrepreneurial friends a lot of the time. I posses the entrepreneur skill side of things, with other technical skills in some areas. However, I need those non-entrepreneurial friends with other technical skills to help me with things that I can't accomplish. So all in all, they're extremely valuable assets.

 

Hello Mister Moderator sir, I'm teahi, I'm new here (tried to post an introduction yesterday (several times) but kept getting an error message... but I digress).
I think it's great when your non-entrepreneurial friends are tech savvy and supportive of your goals. I know of some people, however, who don't have that entrepreneurial bug and spend much of their time doubting you and your dream, and seem to actually try to think of ways in which they can discourage you.

 

Design business?? What type of design? Sorry if you've already talked about it in previous posts, but I'm new here (just got here yesterday), and haven't made my 'rounds' of the forum yet, so to speak.

I think that you should just keep doing what you do, keep working hard, and doors will open for you. I guess I should apply this wisdom to my own self. I want to publish books. The writing them isn't the problem,
but the fear that nobody will read them is. I should just finish writing my books, put them out there and trust that things will be okay.

 

Most of us that have been around the entrepreneurial lifestyle a while know to not share much information with those that are not like minded. It always results in encounters as you describe. "You will naturally leave some behind as you move forward" has been a long time mantra of mine. I didn't craft it, I don't recall from where it originates, I picked it up and I have never put it down. Don't feel regret or feel bad about it. As you rise in business, your center of influence moves away from some and towards others.

 

Hello! Welcome to the forums. If you want, you could attempt to post again, then screenshot the error, send it to me, and we can try and fix it for you. Yeah, for sure, I certainly agree, I was just thinking more of the benefit of having a friend that supports you, not just necessarily having the skill.

 

My friends who do not think the way that I do can sometimes be a problem. I don't like the idea of having to make new friends, and leave the ones I have behind. I don't like that at all. But sometimes we have to ask ourselves what is more important in life: fitting into the mold our current friends expect us to fit into? Or branching out and trying to see what we are truly capable of doing? I think real friends will understand what you are trying to do and be there for you, even if they don't understand what you are trying to do.

 

I really can identify with what you're saying here about fitting into the mold our current friends expect us to fit into. Change is a very interesting thing. If you are trying to change for the good, some people will resist and talk bad about the 'new you' because they feel like if you change, they have to change too, or else they will look like they are standing still. They make your change about them, when your change is actually about you.

On the other hand, some people are supportive, thank goodness, so sometimes things even themselves out where friends are concerned. Sometimes not though. I've had to cut ties with friends who I really liked. It's hard not to reach out to them even when I know it's the right thing for me to do.

 

Thanks for the offer of an extra pair of eyes, perhaps I'll take you up on that offer one day in the (hopefully) not-too-distant future. I want to write children's (childrens' ?) books... I want to 'write them', yet I don't even know where the apostrophe goes in children's. I also want to write and publish non-fiction as well.

IT security? Sounds very high-tech. Good luck on your design business, and in a possible future in advertising. I don't think I could cut it in advertising, I'm more of a buyer than a seller.

 

It was hard telling people what I wanted to do with my business or what I wanted to do for the future of it. Im young so not many people believe what I say or believe I can do the things I imagine. When I finally made enough money to start putting my dreams into action none of the people that were hating on me bothered to catch my attention. Just do you and write down all your ideas so when you have the chance you can make them happened you can do it. Ignore the ones that hate and keep the ones that motivate.

 

We don't have to leave our old friends behind. We may need to sit down and talk to them and tell them our hopes and dreams, and the friends that understand, will give us the time, space and support we need. Those that don't undersatnd, well, that is a topic for another time. I think we all are aware of the impact that negative people can have on our lives and progress.

 

You may not agree on some things about your business, you don't have to entirely leave them and still hang out with them to talk about things that you all find interesting. On your way to being successful, you will experience a lot of alone times. You will usually have to deal with all the ideas, failures and doubts by yourself. Not all are interested in business, not even your business. Keeping your ideas to yourself is better than being disappointed at this point. Try to talk to people that are businessminded instead of stressing over people that don't care.

 

There is a theory that you become the seven people with whom you spend the most time. I save my energy and time for those people not interested in tearing others dreams to shreds.

 

It's best to partition what you do and what you discuss with them. Once they declare where they are at, that variable is more of a constant throughout your interaction with them unless things change and they make it known to you. For the most part, it's just one of those situations where you find out where they stand, and if they are business-friendly and happy to discuss aspects of business with you, then you have a common bond and can move forward with that. If not, you still have every other aspect of your friendship or kinship with them that you can talk about.

In life, you usually find out what you can and can't discuss with people just after a few conversations, and it's not restricted to family or friends on that. Personalities and understanding differ between even two like-minded people, so those differences can often be too big to reconcile with others who are not like-minded or do not want to be for whatever reason they have for that.

 

For me it doesn't matter if I am surrounded by non-entrepreneurial friends. What matters to me is my focus and determination to succeed in my business. I believe that I can find success not in money alone but in the company of my family and friends whom I grew up with and whom I've known all through my life and my inspiration . And an entrepreneurial surroundings is only an accessory to achieve my goals in the business.