Do not Listen to Nay Sayers

Don’t get me wrong, there are people that you should listen to because of their knowledge and experience. You should probably listen to those who are encouraging and supportive. Listening to those who have good creative suggestions is also an idea but do not depend on them. Depending on others keeps you from using and experimenting with Your Own Creativity…believe it or not, it’s there…sometimes you have to dig it out with a shovel and a dump truck, but it is there still the same, you just have to find it.

What I mean by the title to this article is this…do not listen to those who stifle your creativity or your ideas. Just because someone does not understand or appreciate your ideas does not mean that it is without merit…. and as usual I have examples…There is a particular type of tree that we like to cut, slab and build with, even though pretty much all of the people I know in this business choose not to mess with it because of certain challenges and misconceptions, but here is the funny part, we have more people ask what type of wood it is after seeing the slabs than any other type of wood because they have never seen it before. We have worked with it enough to understand it’s characteristics and challenges. We probably build more custom pieces from that particular type of wood than with any other…which coincidentally makes us kind of an authority on the subject. We have even given advice and tips to others who have never worked with it.

Here is another example: Recently a good friend of mine came by and wanted to collaborate with me on another project…I say “Another” because we have collaborated on many projects in the past. Side note…this is one of those people that I DO listen to because he is very creative and talented…where was I? Oh yeah, the example….anyway my friend wanted me to build a base for a table, out of an old small shop fan that he recently acquired. While talking I asked what kind of base he wanted…round, square or what…he said; do what we always do….you do your thing and I will do mine. Then I asked, what is the Theme…he said Steam Punk…well, that’s a first…lol.

Of course I fabricated a base, because why wouldn’t I, seriously… Steam Punk, how cool is that ? Here is the point…there was originally going to be 3 of us involved in this project but my friend decided it would only be he and myself because the 3rd person was constantly telling him that some of his projects were stupid, even though he sold every one of them in very short order.

Here again, Do Not Listen to Nay Sayers. Don’t waste your time, don’t waste your energy, don’t waste your mental capacity…me personally, I cannot afford to waste any mental capacity…lol. Nay Sayers are typically very negative people. There is plenty of negativity in the world, why would you want more of it in your life or your business?