Here's Why You Should Believe in Your Ideas
In a recent interview, comic book icon Stan Lee recounted the story of perhaps his most famous co-creation. After being asked to come up with another idea for a hero, he glimpsed a fly on a wall and was inspired by the idea of a character that had insect-like powers.
He pitched it to his publisher, who told him it was a terrible idea. He left the room suitably chastised, before deciding to feature his newest creation in a series that was finishing anyway. Just in case.
Millions of dollars and countless Halloween costumes later, Spiderman is just as popular today as he was when he first tingled our Spidey sense back in 1962.
It could have all been so different. Had Stan took his publishers' words to heart, we wouldn't have had the hundreds of comic books, the shedload of stories, or the movies featuring Tobey Maguire (Ok, maybe that last one is stretching it).
The point is, most people let their ideas get trampled too easily. I've done it myself, thinking up something great before binning it at the first sign of criticism or resistance.
Spiderman isn't the only thing we could have missed out on. If J.K. Rowling had listened to the "loads" of rejections she received from publishers before being accepted, we wouldn't be drinking butterbeers in the Hog's Head. If Malala Yousafzai had given up on her right to an education after being left for dead, we wouldnt have this fund in her name advocating for the empowerment of young girls throughout the world. You can find examples of these people throughout history, dedicated to their ideas and sustained by the thought of sharing them with society -- this article from 2013 by Renee Jacques is a good place to start.
I'm not saying that you'll be the next Albert Einstein or Meryl Streep. That idea you've been holding on to could well be crap. But it could also be good. Just because one person says "No", that does not mean the value of your idea melts away. Fear of rejection is not an acceptable reason for giving up on your ideas.
I get it -- nobody likes being told they're not good enough, that they or their ideas suck. But in life there will always be people who try to shut you down.
So if you have an idea you want to share with your company, tell your boss about it. If you have a novel in your head, write it. If you feel strongly about something, stand up for it. Don't let the first naysayer lay waste to your plans -- push on through.
The best ideas are the ones that people work to make a reality, no matter what conventional wisdom tells them.
You don't have to be bitten by a radioactive spider to get that power. Its already in there, waiting to be used.
He pitched it to his publisher, who told him it was a terrible idea. He left the room suitably chastised, before deciding to feature his newest creation in a series that was finishing anyway. Just in case.
Millions of dollars and countless Halloween costumes later, Spiderman is just as popular today as he was when he first tingled our Spidey sense back in 1962.
It could have all been so different. Had Stan took his publishers' words to heart, we wouldn't have had the hundreds of comic books, the shedload of stories, or the movies featuring Tobey Maguire (Ok, maybe that last one is stretching it).
The point is, most people let their ideas get trampled too easily. I've done it myself, thinking up something great before binning it at the first sign of criticism or resistance.
Spiderman isn't the only thing we could have missed out on. If J.K. Rowling had listened to the "loads" of rejections she received from publishers before being accepted, we wouldn't be drinking butterbeers in the Hog's Head. If Malala Yousafzai had given up on her right to an education after being left for dead, we wouldnt have this fund in her name advocating for the empowerment of young girls throughout the world. You can find examples of these people throughout history, dedicated to their ideas and sustained by the thought of sharing them with society -- this article from 2013 by Renee Jacques is a good place to start.
I'm not saying that you'll be the next Albert Einstein or Meryl Streep. That idea you've been holding on to could well be crap. But it could also be good. Just because one person says "No", that does not mean the value of your idea melts away. Fear of rejection is not an acceptable reason for giving up on your ideas.
I get it -- nobody likes being told they're not good enough, that they or their ideas suck. But in life there will always be people who try to shut you down.
So if you have an idea you want to share with your company, tell your boss about it. If you have a novel in your head, write it. If you feel strongly about something, stand up for it. Don't let the first naysayer lay waste to your plans -- push on through.
The best ideas are the ones that people work to make a reality, no matter what conventional wisdom tells them.
You don't have to be bitten by a radioactive spider to get that power. Its already in there, waiting to be used.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.