The People Around You are NOT Supporting you? Then check this article

So, you have a great crazy idea or a risky step that you want to take, but you do not feel that the people around you like your family and friends are supporting you or understanding how important this idea or step is for you. What should you do?

First thing, you must define exactly what is happening around you.

Aren’t your family and friends offering emotional or maybe financial support?

Or aren’t they offering support and also attacking and criticizing you by saying that this idea is not the right one for you and that you will lose or that you do not know what you are doing…etc.?

Honestly, both will have a negative impact on your emotions and accordingly your actions. But if they are attacking and criticizing you also, this will hurt you more and cause bigger damage.

It is very simple to tell you to ignore them and find some other people who will believe in you or your ideas. But the big issue with this proposal is that we do not want to avoid them, and that’s all. We long deep inside of us to change their opinions and hence obtain their support because it means a lot to us and makes us feel backed up.

So, what should you do in these situations?

First advice. Do not try to fight against their beliefs or confront them to make them change their minds and believe in you. Because, simply, this will not happen.

How many times have you engaged in a discussion with someone that you know, and this discussion involved speaking about beliefs, and you were able to change this person’s beliefs? Very rare, right?

That’s why avoid confronting them and wasting your energy trying to make them change their minds regarding you.

Instead, do the following things:

1- Listen to what they are trying to say and their reasons for not supporting you.

This will help you in understanding why they are concerned, and maybe you will discover that they are concerned because of a lack of clarity, misunderstanding, or because of some circumstances that are not existing anymore.

2- Clarify what you are doing exactly and why you are doing it.

3- Set expectations with them.

Share with them the bad expectations before the good ones about what will happen on the journey. This will prepare them and will make them have more faith in you, especially if what you expected happened.

4- Keep your commitments.

If you say that you will do something, do it. This will give them more trust in you.

5- Do your work.

The more disciplined you are, the more serious you will appear.

But take care, in the first few years, keeping your discipline level high is a challenge in itself. Because during these years you will find yourself trying a lot of different strategies, and most of them will not work. And you will reach a point where either you will feel demotivated to act or you have no specific action already in your head that you can take.

6- Find support somewhere else and do not give up and keep moving forward even if alone. And search for like-minded people and people who achieved what you want already.

And finally, be patient. Changing their opinions about you will take time. And it is very rare that people, even the ones near you, back up a risky or new idea from the beginning.

People usually wait and observe to see how much you believe in yourself and your idea, and how much are you willing to accept the struggles and fight for your idea or project before they start believing in you.

So do not expect dramatic changes in their behavior immediately just because you followed the steps that I just shared with you.

Now I want you to share your thoughts with me. Did you pass through this situation before? And how did you handle it? Share with me your thoughts in the comments below.

And if your story is very personal, feel free to email me or send a private message.