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Approval.

“You cannot sustain yourself long-term on the approval of others.” – Todd Henry

There’s a point in your journey where you’re going to look for approval and it won’t be there. You’re going to look all around you. You’re going to go searching for someone to prove you right; someone to validate your ideas, plans, and goals — but no one will show up. It’s in these times where we need something more. Something more than a “Good job!” or “Great work!” to make us keep going. We have to build up our life’s work around something more than the approval of others.

Lack of confirmation doesn’t mean you suck. It may mean that you missed the mark but that doesn’t mean it time to quit. Here are three types of approval that don’t come from other people:

1. Approval from your vision.

If what you’re doing is leading you down the path to your goals and is in line with your vision and why, you don’t need approval.

2. Approval via forward motion.

Home runs and batting averages don’t win games. Runs do. If you can look at what you’re doing and see that it’s moving you forward, you don’t need approval.

3. Approval from belief.

The ability to believe, to dream, to know something to be true even though we haven’t seen it for ourselves is one of the things that makes us human. As is the ability to doubt. I really like to hear people get excited about my ideas because it immediately confirms in my mind that I’m on to something. When I don’t get support though, I think something must be wrong. Ideas can’t be sustained solely on the approval of others. Mostly because others don’t believe in your idea as much as you do. They haven’t seen the minecraft style empire you’ve built-in your mind and since they can’t see it, it isn’t real (to them). Don’t lose your belief.

We cannot balance our life’s work on someone else’s scale. We must build it up around what you know to be good and true. If you’re chasing those things, you don’t need approval.

 

seeking  approval from others

Happy Tuesday, guys!

Chris

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