START; pgs 148-156

START; Punch Fear In The Face; Escape Average; Do Something That Matters, By Jon Acuff

The road through Mastering is littered with bullhorns.  Don't pick them up, they're only distractions from your passion.  If you grab the bullhorn too soon, you won't learn that to be awesome you need to spend more time practicing your dream than you do promoting your dream.  The temptation to spend more time on promoting what you're doing instead of practicing what you're doing.  Promoting makes people thing you're already a master.  Practicing is what makes you a master.  There's a big difference between practicing and promoting. 

Someone is going to hate what you do.  Haters are inevitable. 

Hate leads to a wound.  Constructive criticism leads to an improvement.
Hate's motive is to hurt.  Constructive criticism's motive is to help.
Hate is an anchor.  Constructive criticism is a gift.

Two Important Questions to ask yourself when dealing with haters:
1- Who said it?
Was it a close friend or a complete stranger?  Was it someone who is interested in building you, or bringing you down?  Was it someone who is helping you? or shutting down your dreams?  Don't receive hate as if you're receiving it from someone who knows us.  Don't be so quick to give hate, or words, so much power. 

2- Why did they say it?
What was their motive?  Were they exposing a blind spot in my life so that I can improve? Are they mad about something completely different, and just looking to lash out at anyone who crosses their path?  Reflect before you act.

The next time you get hate, make sure it's not valuable criticism from someone who is trying to help you get better.

Don't discount compliments.  Don't ignore them and keep walking.

1 insult  + 1,000 compliments = 1 insult.  This is faulty thinking.
Critic's math is something that everyone struggles with.
It doesn't instantly go away with success.
Every time you believe critic's math, you make it more powerful.
Fear and doubt are like muscles.  Every time you believe a lie, it gets easier to believe the next time.
Don't let the temptation to stop along your journey to awesome and engage with fear and doubt.

Be gracious and polite, and then keep moving so that your words are true as you leave the haters behind you.

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Personal Notes:

I have never dealt well with "haters".  I am someone who takes their words to heart and curls up in the fetal position to "lick my wounds" and even feel sorry for myself.  I had never realized that in my warped thinking, that "1 insult + 1,000 compliments = 1 insult".

I've empowered fear and doubt, by believing their lies and deceit. 

My other problem is that when I ask the "Who" and "Why", sometimes I find that the who is someone who is supposed to care about me and be interested in my best interests.  Instead they beat me down, drag me down, and shut me down.