The World’s Worst Advice for Ambitious People

Zip it, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh.

Hey, it’s Marie Forleo and you are watching Marie TV, the place to be to create a business and I let the you love, and it’s Tuesday. I hope that you’re watching this on a Tuesday cause that’s the day it is and it’s Q and A Tuesday. This question comes from Martina and she writes,

“Hi Marie, I just want you to know that I find you absolutely inspiring and fascinating. Thank you so much. Here’s my cue. I’ve always wanted to lead an organized life. However, reality is much more hectic and chaotic. I expect big things for myself and I have a vision for my life and I push myself hard to achieve it. I’m not a perfectionist, but I always want to go further, but my friends don’t get my goals and ambitions and they keep telling me to slow down. I feel like I should keep going, but maybe I’m wrong and I should listen to my friends and just let go a bit. What do you think? Thanks. Martina.”

Martina, this is an awesome question and I will tell you there’s only two reasons that people tell you to slow down. Reason number one is they don’t have the ambition and the drive that you have. You got to get girl that this is a gift. Most people wish they had that hunger to create. So if people are trying to tell you to slow down and you don’t want to do it, don’t let anybody squash your dreams. Don’t let anybody keep you small. I always think about that analogy of crabs being in a pot and one of the crabs is trying to crawl out and the other one are just trying to pull him down. That’s what it feels like when people tell you to slow down and you really don’t want to.

As a naturally driven and ambitious person myself, the worst thing you can tell me is slow down. I’m not going to slow down. It’s not who I am. I have a hunger to create, to serve, to make a difference and my biggest hope is that I go through my life and I am sufficiently used up at the end of it. I’m not talking about getting sick or burning myself out. I’m just talking about harnessing that natural ambition and drive that I already have.

So don’t tell me to slow down. I’m not going to do it. If you want to slow it down, great, you got to do you, but don’t squash my dreams. Don’t try to make me go slower and for the love of all things holy, don’t tell me to slow down.

Now for reason number two. People will tell you to slow down if you’re a hot mess and you’re always overwhelmed and you’re like crazy, chaotic, running around like a chicken with your head cut off. Here’s the deal. If you’re missing deadlines and you’re always dropping the ball, people will tell you to slow down because you’re inviting it. Now, you can be driven and ambitious without seeming like a crazy person so you can say, “You know what? I’ve got so much going on, I’m in life and I’m so excited about it.” Or you can say, “Oh my god, I have so much going on. I’m overwhelmed, I’m crazy busy. I can’t keep up with anything.” And then of course, people are going to say, “You know what? You need to slow that shizzle down.”

One last thing. I want you to pay attention to who is telling you to slow down. If it’s someone who has an amazing life and they’re creating great results, it’s someone you respect and you really want to take a page out of their book, well maybe they’re worth listening to. And on the other hand, if the person telling you to slow down has a crappy life, they’re not someone you admire or respect, don’t listen to them.

And I want you to remember this tweetable. When you’re hungry for success, don’t let anyone feed you crap about slowing down. That was my 80 or Q, Martina. I really do hope it helps.

And now I would love to hear from you. If you consider yourself a hungry, driven, ambitious person, are there things that people say to you that drive you absolutely bananas? As always, the best discussions happen after the episode over at marieforleo.com. So come on over and leave a comment now.

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Take that slower downers. You want to tug and pull it. Whoo. Everything’s better when you do it twice, better if you party twice. It’s just my observation for the day. That’s it. That’s Marie TV. Go have a wonderful week.