Every great achievement in history has been met with doubt and cynicism. The fact that we live in the technologically advanced world that we do today is a testament to the resolve, focus, and persistence of those incredible visionaries and entrepreneurs who blazed the way before us.
You may have heard of Elon Musk. If you haven’t, he is the brains behind PayPal, SpaceX, and Tesla Motors. And he thrives on doing what others say can’t be done.
Musk recently publicized his concept for high speed travel between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Termed the Hyperloop, it is essentially a bank drive-thru tube on steroids. You know the tubes I mean. The ones that house a plastic canister that gets sucked back into the bank after you deposit your funds.
Musk’s vision is to transport people in pods that would travel at 800 MPH suspended on a cushion of air. The trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles, typically about a 5-1/2 hour drive, would take between 30 and 45 minutes.
A daunting task? No doubt about it. In fact, some would say impossible.
The Hyperloop’s big reveal had barely hit the news wires and the naysayers were already slinging their mud.
I did a Google search for “Elon Musk Hyperloop” on the day of this writing, and the first title returned was “why Elon Musk’s ‘hyperloop’ transport won’t work”.
Now from a technological standpoint, I have no idea whether this type of thing is doable, and I can’t even imagine the logistics that go into designing something of this magnitude. So far be it from me to comment on the feasibility of pulling this off.
But isn’t the dreaming and designing and testing what this is all about? Isn’t it about pushing our boundaries and continually striving for something better? Something that nobody else thought possible?
There are the Elon Musks of the world and then there are the people who revel in writing about the Elon Musks failing. It’s always been this way, and I suppose it always will be.
Do you think we would have ever gotten to the moon had we listened to the logical thinking of the “practical” folks?
Can’t you just imagine the headlines from back in the day?…
EDISON’S ATTEMPT AT THE ELECTRIC CANDLE A FLOP
MOTORIZED HORSE WILL BE FORD’S DOWNFALL
ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL NOTHING BUT A PHONEY!
The question is, which side are you on? The doers or the doubters?
I’m guessing if you are reading this post that you are a visionary. That you are developing or perfecting your entrepreneurial skills.
Maybe you are not an Elon Musk (hey, who is?), but you have the drive and passion to see your world the way that he sees his.
So then the question becomes, do you give any credence to your naysayers? To the family members who snicker when you start a new venture? To the coworkers trying to hold you back from that promotion? To the old friends who discredit your success?
Because if you do, you are carrying a lot of excess tonnage that needs to be dumped. Still love your family. Still respect your friends and coworkers. Just don’t take their doubt and negativity to heart.
Those who say your dream is impossible simply don’t have a large enough vision. They don’t know what lies deep inside of you. They don’t realize that if you can’t see it in your mind, you will never hold it in your hand. They don’t understand the power of goals, journals, and dream boards.
Whatever your dream, keep it alive and nurture it until it comes to fruition. Passion always overcomes doubt. Ingenuity trumps negativity. A thousand naysayers mean nothing to a single man intently focused on his goal.
So stay the course. Keep fighting for what you believe possible.
Sure people will doubt and ridicule you and talk behind your back. Who cares?
When it’s all said and done, you’ll be in the headlines for all the right reasons!
*Images courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net
