Getty Image
When I was six years old, I came up with an idea for an extendable straw that would greatly reduce the severe strain that comes with having to bend over to take a sip of your drink. I even managed to stick one straw inside of another to make a rudimentary prototype but it never went anywhere because no one really ever takes the idea of a six-year-old that seriously.
A few years later, I was aghast to discover an orange juice company had made my idea a reality. While I was pretty dismayed at the time, in the past year or so people have slowly started to realize that straws are destroying the environment, so I guess I really won in the long run. However, since then, I’ve made sure to do everything in my power to make my ideas a reality no matter how stupid other people might think they are.
Noted rich person Richard Branson never would have been able to achieve what he has if he went back and furiously erased the drawing board every time someone doubted him. According to Time, he shared his outlook on what to do if you ever find yourself in a situation of uncertainty:
“There have been so many times in my career where my ideas were overlooked. Friends, family members, people I looked up to, and the banks – not everyone always saw the potential I saw. But that didn’t deter me. Just because others don’t believe in your ideas from the get-go doesn’t mean that they are worthless. In my case, it drove me to want to succeed even more.
“You do you” seems like a pretty basic piece of advice, but when it comes from a guy with a net worth over $5 billion, it might be worth taking to heart.