What’s your favorite movie of all time?
How did the critics grade it? Did it get a high or low score on Rotten Tomatoes?
Do you even care about their critique of the film? Of course not! It’s your favorite movie after all. So, you don’t care that it has a bad storyline, you watch it for the action. Perhaps, it’s the love story you enjoy, despite the bad acting. Maybe it does have great acting and storytelling, but the budget was so small that it’s a B-grade movie. None of these factors matter because it’s your favorite movie, period! You then forget, ignore, or never even bothered to see what the critics said because it would your favorite film no matter what.
Why then can’t we do the same when it comes to critics and criticism in our daily lives? We should and we can if we, Press on!
Steve Jobs said, “Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”
There is a lot of noise today, especially on the internet. To be happy and at rest, in life, we must follow the design of our personality, likes, and dislikes. Doing so will cause people to criticize us at times, especially at the start. Press on!
People will not “get it” when we are starting something new. We may have to cast a vision a thousand times before it begins to make sense, even to ourselves. Others should not deter us. No, we should pursue the dream laid on our heart. Not only is it the place where we find our best energy, but it will prevent us from the least burnout. Sadly, too many of us spend time people pleasing others hoping to win their approval to make us successful. Avoid this path because we will never please everyone. Press on!
A quick Google search of movies that were initially panned by critics, but now heralded as classics bring up two surprises:
“It’s a Wonderful Life” and
“The Wizard of Oz.”
Yes, both of those movies were hated by critics on their release. However, that didn’t stop them from being a later success. Sometimes ideas and goals take time to catch on. If so, then it shouldn’t keep us from completing a project, if anything it should motivate us to “press on” with the dream. Some will say that criticism is a good thing and we should listen to free advice. True, but that’s an article for a later time.
For now, focus on the passions that excite you. Trust your intuition, both in achievements and failures. Too many of us listen to negativity with the noble hope that it will make us successful. Unfortunately, this approach only causes us to please everyone, but ourselves. Ultimately though, you must answer to two people in life, yourself and the Lord above. Focus on satisfying those two individuals most because there’s always another criticism. Not only might you find more rest, but you’ll be happier because your joy comes from the finished product than another’s shifting opinion. So, Press on!
