Got that business you want to launch? A book you want to write? An album you want to record? Some brand new invention?
You can be sure that you’ll get some resistance. Any time you want to create something new, there are people who will feel threatened by that. Either that, or they don’t have the vision for it. So they’ll try to discourage you from trying. Their intentions might be good, but it only makes you feel bad.
Here are three things you’ll hear when you try to launch something new.
“There’s a reason no one else has done this.”
Maybe the project is doomed to fail, or maybe it’s just not a good idea in the first place. That’s what this lie implies.
But just because nobody’s tried it before doesn’t mean it won’t work. There are constantly brand new inventions. And there are times you’re able to see a future nobody else can see. There are new things.
A perfect example of this is when David Bowie became the first record label artist to release an album online. The Rolling Stone actually poked fun at it in an article. But Bowie saw a future nobody else saw. Now I don’t even remember the last time I bought a physical album.
“You don’t have enough experience to do it.”
This might be true. You might not have enough experience. But if everyone waited until they had enough experience to start a new endeavor, there wouldn’t be many new things out there.
The only way you gain experience is through trial and error. Trying and failing and trying again. That gives you experience. The folks who actually have enough experience are trying new things they don’t have enough experience for…because that’s what new is all about it. It’s charting new territory.
“It’s too risky.”
New is risky. It’s true. But you can’t let someone else decide what’s too risky for you. You need to weigh the options. You need to talk to God. And ultimately it’s your decision whether or not to risk.
I’ve found risk is one of the best things for me. The more I risk, the bigger the payoff. Yes, I use wisdom to decide. But I know I’ll never feel complete peace about a new idea, otherwise it wouldn’t be a risk. It wouldn’t be new territory.
So those are the three things I’ve heard when trying something new. What have you heard? And how do you respond to it?