Throughout history, while experts have been discovering how our world works, other “un-experts” have been continually doubting them every step of the way.
Let’s take a look at the “Flat Earth” theory as an example of extreme doubting:
- Everyone thought the earth was flat until Pythagoras proved that the earth was round in 6th century B.C.
- It took another couple hundred years for anyone to actually believe him (Aristotle finally convinced them to believe in it).
- Over the next two thousand years many parts of the world still considered the earth to be flat.
But here’s the kicker: In 1956, Samuel Shenton started a “Flat Earth” conspiracy group that grew to over 3,000 members by the 1970′s.
The “Flat Earth” theory had been disproven mathematically, astronomically, and scientifically, but some people still didn’t believe that the Earth was a sphere even though when we had already put humans on the moon.
A great lesson can be learned from this story.
There Will Always Be Doubters
There will always be doubters when you are trying to learn how to do something new, become the world’s best at something, or take a big risk.
When you come across doubters, there are only two options for what to do:
- Get discouraged and quit.
- Prove them wrong.
If you want to be an expert you’ll need to prove people wrong.
- You have to dream big to make it to the top.
- Start a blog and show people you know what you’re talking about.
- Realize you don’t have to be the best to be an expert.
Once you understand that there will always be people that are supportive of what you are doing and people that will hate on every minute of it, you can decide to keep moving forward and get good at things.
This mindset shift is a major part of success. If you can ignore all the haters and focus on continual progress, you’ll be better off than the majority of people trying to do what you are doing.
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Ask yourself the hard questions: Who are the doubters in your life? Are they even real people or do you create hypothetical people in your mind?
Let’s us know in the comments what doubters are keeping you from and how you are going to prove them wrong.
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I love this, Caleb!
I’d like to add that I’m pretty confident Pythagoras spent his time creating his awesome proofs, and aristotle spent his time crafting his arguments, I doubt they spent much of their lives ‘worrying’ about ‘doubters’.
“I felt so inspired by what my teacher said,
Said I’d either be dead or be a reefer head,
Now sure if that’s how adults should speak ta kids,
Especially when the only thing I did was speak in class,
I teach his a$$,” – Jay-Z
And in fact, “The Flat Earth” Conspiracy Group is actually doing a favour by drawing more attention to their discoveries, the more people that contribute energy and attention to it, the likelier/quicker it is the truth will be revealed.
(see The Wisdom Of Crowds by James Surowiecki)
=) I love proving people wrong! It feels like a double dare, who can resist that!
The doubters in my life are essentially those who contributed to my growth (family and friends) and pretend to know everything about my strengths and weaknesses.
They are not easily manageable and convinceable because they are still looking at my past failures and experiences.
I’m used to hear such words: you’re a square ped in a round hole for this stuff, you’re not done for that, you’re losing your time, we know you and we know that you never go to the end of your adventures, and so on…
The fact is that I’m passionated about the subject they swear I’m not an expert in. They can’t realize it now. I’ts normal. But as time goes by, I’m sure they’ll admit their wrong.
8 months after the lauching of my personal blog, some are now becoming fans cause of the seriousness of my entreprise.
Believe in me and keep on working is so what I plan to use to show them wrong.
People want to see actions, and not just hearing words.
Believe in you and change your surronding world with concrete deeds…doubts will disappear and confidence will arise!!!
Caleb, I’m really happy to be reading these pieces. And your use of history to prove the point is all the better!
It’s a strange thing that we have to compete with the experts to eventually become the new expert ourselves.
I think you may enjoy my little mini series on ignoring the experts…
http://almostbohemian.com/ignore4/
We must move past the people who are in the know. If we have conviction and believe and passion and zeal, we must get off their paths and change our world!
“some people still didn’t believe that the Earth was a sphere even though when we had already put humans on the moon.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth_Society
A shocking number of people still believe the Earth is flat, AND they don’t believe that we put humans on the moon.
The way I am starting to look at things is that their are a lot of different ways to approach things and they are all good enough usually to make it work at that particular moment in time. Are some better than others, of course, but we don’t a have time in life to do everything the perfect way.
The key for me right now is to remain focused on the goal and approach it in the best way I can right now. I know things will change as I talk to more people and learn more things, but I am not going to sweat that I am not perfect right now.
I think the perfectionists in the world are often times to slow in life to make a real difference. I mean some people have a problem getting out of bed if they don’t do it just right.
I’ll always strive to make what I am doing perfect, but I will try and stay in the moment. It is this moment that I can control and it will lead be to bigger and better moments down the road. Giddy up!
Hi,
when I run into doubters, I use technique often used in martial arts (reverted energy – I call it ‘natural denial’) that will consume (get in a flow with) and revert impact of someones energy or doubt in this case.
I don’t like proving anything to anyone nor I particularly like quitting. But to deny someones dissonant energy by consuming and reverting it is so sweet.
/cheers
Hi..Nice topic. Doubters are silenced when they see evidence. If you walk the walk, then you’ll have to talk a lot less talk in convincing others. Thanks again
I think I am my own worse enemy when it comes to doubting my abilities and knowledge on my expertise and I know I am not alone. Self limiting beliefs can keep us from really going after our goals and dreams. It is a constant struggle in sports to perform at your skill level when you doubt your abilities due to low self esteem. That is why it is important to surround yourself with positive people who build you up and help you feel good about yourself and your expertise!
Caleb, I think there is a third option to this, and that is simply ignoring the doubters. I don’t think scientists lost any sleep over the flat earth group in the 1950s. They just kept on with their work.
The same goes for us. If we spend all our time trying to convert the doubters we’ll lose valuable momentum in our work and divert attention from the people who respect and follow our work. I don’t know about you, but I’m far more concerned about my fans and followers than I am my detractors.
You can learn from the naysayers, and I do spend some time making sure I understand their arguments to better my work overall. But to spend time actually courting these people and trying to soothe their doubts? A total waste of time.
The beauty of life is that it’s an evolving process and everyday offers opportunities to grow, learn and share. Everyone is an expert of their own life and when you lose site of your authentic self then doubters will always be able to throw you off your game.
Develop a stronger bond with yourself. After all, when challengers arise it means that you’re doing something right. As they say, one can build a strong foundation with the bricks others throw at them.
For me, not trying to be an expert is the key.
This allows me to always empty my cup so that life, which is the real expert, can continuously stay focus on my life’s purpose.