If you ever need some inspiration reading some of Muhammed Ali’s many quotes is a constant source for me but this one really struck a chord today so please read on….

“It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.” Muhammed Ali 1942–2016

The idea that something that weighs you down is more of a burden than the actual challenge is a fantastic observation and one that I’ve been coming across more and more when I’ve looked around both in my own endeavours and those of my colleagues and friends of late.

There is certainly some consensus between entrepreneurs that surrounding yourself with successful, positive people is almost a must if you wish to become so yourself however I’ve seen far less talk of removing the “Pebbles from your shoe” which in itself could be as important, perhaps more so.

I wrote an article in a series called “Make Your Passion Pay” about simply getting rid of your sounding boards and third party opinions on the basis that most of them, will be entirely unqualified to comment on your ideas and plans, however this may well be one stage further as my comments were more directed toward avoiding bouncing your ideas off people with no idea, as opposed to simply avoiding constant negativity from third parties.

The positive energy it takes to get things off the ground or have the belief in something to drive it forward can be huge, whether its a business, a sport or a goal within your particular area. The positive energy to follow your path every day is something we must cultivate and protect so when you have people in your life you must interact with, especially if on a regular basis who have little to contribute other than negativity often disguised as caution, worry or doubt then there becomes a point where it is going to sap your energy and this can become a problem you must solve.

How this is resolved will vary greatly depending on who the people are but one of your first issues is not resolution but identification. Much of the negativity we hear daily quite often from the same small group of people passes over us like a raincloud leaving only small drops in our psyche but those drops add up and eventually can leave us soaked if we don’t take cover soon enough.

There is a major difference between someone listening to an idea or plan and pointing out a genuine flaw or hole in a plan, maybe advising a caution via experience or an insight which may help you develop the idea better to being generally negative with no useful or helpful input and the ability to discern this is crucial. However there is another version of this which in my opinion is far worse.

The Expert Idiot

Another figure, whom seems to rear up more and more of late, are the self proclaimed experts who make suggestions or attempt to channel loose ideas, usually as a consultant or similar (whether they are paid directly or not) but have limited or no understanding of the subject area.

These people are at often at best an expensive diversion and at their worst dangerous. They can be found in many Government led business initiatives where all the advisors have actually zero experience of anything in the private sector, which is like an electrician advising on where to place the water pipes.

Private consultants can be even worse; the very fact someone has been prepared to pay them to give their expert opinion can often mean they are already invested in listening. Great if these people get it right, but potentially dangerous if they get it wrong. Keep questioning what they are saying no matter who they are! The best teachers always tell you to question their teachings.

I used to work for an internet marketing firm where the guy who owned it employed two so called expert consultants to help him formulate his plans. Eventually I sat in on one of these meetings and was simply appalled. Their approach was more of a business agony aunt than a genuinely useful directive process, but worse they gave encouragement and pushed along half formed and under thought out ideas with absolutely no real knowledge of the area they were advising on….Dangerous!

Another company I’ve worked with over a long period of time, continually heard outlandish suggestions from the outsourced “expert” they hired. The guys ideas came with no real sensible way of seeing them through and no actual suggestion of practical ways of achieving any results from them, what it did do was confuse the team due to their position of relative authority.
The guy was described politely as a “theorist” by one member of the team, my description may have been less polite but more accurate. With “expert” consultants I simply see much of their input as misleading and unhelpful, at best a distraction from making more solid progress.

So Now All I Wear Are Flip Flops..

Its tough to lead and sometimes even tougher to lead yourself, the business cliche of lonely at the top may well ring true. To seriously counter your natural social instinct to seek validation could pay big dividends as an entrepreneur, at the least it might save you fees you don’t need to pay.

My advice would be to invest consultant money elsewhere, a single seminar or a well written book with some time for reflection upon the information within will be thousands of dollars cheaper than a poorly qualified consultant, more again than going down the blind alleys they may lead you.

If you spend cash you saved on the best members of your team, allow them to run with their talents, allow yourself the courage of your convictions perhaps whilst recognising your own limitations, plugging your knowledge or talent gaps with people who are gifted where you are not

Once your well paid, poorly qualified advisors are gone then lets get rid of the detractors too. This can be difficult as they can sometimes be those nearest and dearest. My personal toughest challenge was to overcome the natural negativity of my parents and to fully trust my own instinct. My sibling suffers to this day with the ghost of their teachings.

Negative people will always pull you down, they may not intend to but it’s vital to keep them out of your psyche, even if you can’t keep them out of your life. Its also key to remember that these people may well have good intentions but simply be unable to see your vision, or have your courage.
People naturally like to find safety in numbers, being the one who walks the uncommon path will not generally gain you popular endorsement, only once you have proven it fruitful will those same people will seek to retrospectively endorse your actions.

Over the years, I’ve found researching and reading other peoples points of view very helpful and recently have found several great sources which are expanding my thinking, maintaining a healthy scepticism can also go a long way in reaching your goals or at least avoiding long diversions. Use the late, great Bruce Lee’s mantra “Absorb what is useful, discard what is not” this will serve you well. I have found many of the books I read, video’s I watch, articles I research have the 80/20 rule in there but its rare I don’t have some kind of useful take out.

So, If all you wear is Flip Flops then the pebbles will just fall out all on their own.