Proving the World Wrong

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

April 8, 2013. We are quickly coming up on the two year anniversary of the night the WWE Universe saw an emergence of a true star when Dolph Ziggler cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase to win the World Heavyweight Championship. It was a monumental moment that we all waited so long for, but in the end, it was worth the wait. It sent the the crowd in the Izod Center into a craze, exploding with excitement as Ziggler clinched the prestigious prize and celebrated his huge victory. Aftermath aside, it was truly an incredible moment in time that epitomized reaching the mountaintop and achieving ultimate success.

Dolph Ziggler winning the world title that night may have been "fake"; I mean, wrestling is scripted, isn't it? But make no mistake about it: Ziggler's story of overcoming the odds and doing what no one thought he could is very much real. I don't often incorporate wrestling into my "Injection of Inspiration" posts, but one of the reasons why I love wrestling as much as I do is because of the stories told. Yes, wrestling can be seen as escape from the realm of reality and in many ways it is, but some of the stories told are realistic, only turned up to the tenth degree.

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I've said in the past that the best thing you can do is set a goal for yourself. Without a goal, what in your life is there to strive for? Once you've found something to strive for and your goals have been set, it won't be an easy process. It's difficult enough that you have to overcome your own personal hurdles of pushing yourself and not looking back in attempt to reach that goal of yours, but you'll have plenty of other people telling you that you can't do it. I'm not going to lie to you in saying that your journey to the top will be perfect. In fact, it will be anything but. However, that you will you on even more.

One of the greatest pieces of advice I've ever heard someone give is that the only people that will tell you that you can't do something are the people who could never do it themselves. And that is absolutely true. Who doesn't want to see someone succeed? For one thing, it might be out of jealousy; they don't want you to reach the same level of success that they did. On the other hand, it might be a failure telling you that you'll never amount to anything. Needless to say, if someone who failed at something in life is telling you that you can't accomplish your goal, you might as well laugh it off because it's obvious they never could do it themselves and they don't want to see you do it instead.

Actually, you really shouldn't listen to the naysayers at all. Honestly, what does their opinion really matter? Don't discourage yourself by listening to negative comments made about you; you're wasting your time. Constructive criticism is great, so if someone telling you how you can be better, don't tune them out; listen to them. Unfortunately, constructive criticism is hard to come by these days, as instead you're likely to come across someone who will straight up tell you that you'll never be successful in life without giving any reasons why. If they don't have any substantial proof or evidence to back up what they're saying, why should you listen to them?

On your way to the top, don't block out everyone, only those that don't aid you in any way and hinder your progress. Embrace those that support you and let it be known to them that their support is welcomed and appreciated. Therefore, they will continue to support you. Those are the people in life that really matter because they believe in you. There will be others that will refuse to believe in you until you do something that will make them think otherwise, so make a it a goal of yours to prove them wrong.

Obviously, your number one goal should be to do it for yourself in order to feel and be accomplished, but if you're struggling getting to that point, think of everyone who doubted you. It may be disconcerting or even depressing to think about at first and they should quite honestly be the farthest thing from your mind, but in this case, use their negativity to fuel your positivity. Think about how great it will be to prove each and every one of those naysayers wrong. As I said, make you supporters proud, but achieving success in spite of those you didn't think you ever could definitely doesn't hurt. 

Regardless of how many supports you have, you should known deep down within yourself that you're capable of whatever you set your mind to. There aren't certain people who are destined for great things and others that aren't. Truth be told, everyone has it within themselves to be something amazing in this world; it's just up to them to dig down deep and find it. Unfortunately, there are those out there that will put their potential to waste and never apply themselves to whatever they do. That's their problem, not yours. Of course, care for others, but you need to worry about yourself. The path they choose to take is ultimately up to them, so focus on paving yours.

We all face hard times at one point or another; it's inevitable. If every single person we encountered told us we were great and supported us on our way to the top, then how are you getting better if you aren't recognizing your own flaws? I'm not saying you should surround yourself with negative people but rather that we will all come across a doubter someday. It's up you as to how you react.

There are things in life that we can't control, good and bad, but the important thing is how we react to it. If you succumb to defeat in the face of a naysayer, you will never reach success because you've already lost confidence in yourself. However, if you take the words from a doubter and feed off them to make yourself even more motivated, your chances of reaching your goals have increased significantly. They thought they could knock you down and prevent you from realizing your dreams, but little do they know they just helped you get to that point.

Negativity only makes us stronger in the end, so prove to the world that they were wrong. Show the world that you're here to make a lasting impact and leave a legacy, and you're going to do things your way. You don't reach a point of ultimate happiness of success; rather you get to that point in trying to obtain it. Keep going strong, realize your full potential, and never give up. You'll feel ten times more satisfied knowing you didn't once you've become successful in this world that once doubted you.