July 17, 2014 - Written by: Poppy Gillian

There’s No Such Thing as ‘Can’t!’

What do you do if someone tells you that you can’t do something?

Do you agree with them, or do you set out to prove them wrong?

The more I think about it, the more I realise how often this happens: ‘Perhaps you shouldn’t wear that dress? I don’t think you’ll like doing that. Maybe you should wait until you get more experience?’

Sometimes the people who say all of that stuff mean well, sometimes there are deliberately trying to put you off for whatever reason. Becky aptly names these people ‘The Miserables’ in her latest post (check it out: here). But should you listen to them?

If someone tells me not to do something and I wasn’t really keen on it anyway, then I won’t do it. But that’s my decision. If someone tells me not to do something I want to do, then it makes me more determined than ever.

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A couple of months ago I went to see a psychic with a friend. When I told her that I wanted to be a writer, she said: ‘Oh no. That’s not a proper job. You won’t make any money out of that. I think you should be a primary school teacher’.

Er… what? I have no intention of being a teacher. Okay, I know I may not be the next J.K. Rowling, but she didn’t need to piss so thoroughly on my parade. But it hasn’t put me off. I’m still going to try because it’s something I enjoy doing. If J.K. had given up after her first rejection, we would never have experienced the delights of Harry Potter. If women had believed they couldn’t vote, then we never would have done. The list goes on and on…

At the same time, I have a job interview coming up this week and it’s something I know that I will really love. My mum response, as she threw me a sideways glance: ‘Oh, it will be very challenging’. I sighed and shrugged it off. What’s the point in doing something, if it doesn’t allow you to progress?

I have decided that from now on I am going to trust my own instincts and do the things that I want to do. I might mess it up and make mistakes, but it might turn out better than I have ever anticipated. I think that I am always going to regret the things I didn’t try more than the things I did.

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So don’t let anyone hold you back or cause you to mistrust your own judgment.

Want to book a holiday? Do it! Feel like changing jobs? What are you waiting for? Want to eat that last slice of chocolate cake? You go for it, sister!

Throw caution to the wind and do what makes you happy.

If you enjoyed this article, why not check out ‘3 Tips on How to Stand on the Brink of the Unknown (Without Shitting Your Pants)’?