Turn Your Back

To lead an orchestra, a conductor has to turn his back to the crowd. To lead your life, you have to turn your back to the crowd. This means you have to immunize yourself to what others say, think, or do relative to your quest to achieve your goals.
Just as a conductor must focus on the performance of the orchestra, you need to focus on the performance of your life. If a conductor faces the crowd, he can’t direct the musicians.
Do you measure your performance by what the crowd thinks. Are you more concerned about the opinions of others than about the direction of your life? If so, you may find it hard to stay on a path of your choosing.
Far too many people have abandoned their dreams due to input from the crowd. This is a shame, since it is you who suffers when your dreams are abandoned. The crowd rarely roots for success. They would rather see failure. If you doubt this, just look at the news. How many stories depict defeat and tragedy compared to success and triumph?
People tend to be jealous when someone does better than them. Rather than attempting to elevate themselves, they boost their stature by comparing themselves to those who are doing worse. Additionally, people love to give their opinion, often unsolicited. When you pay attention to the crowd, you do yourself a disservice.
At first it won’t be easy to turn your back. You have become conditioned to care about what others think. You want to be accepted and fear rejection should you not be sensitive to others’ opinions. You want to fit in.
Dave loved to cook and entertain. One beautiful summer day, he invited a number of friends over for a barbecue. He put several steaks on the grill. As he was cooking, one of his friends came over and told Dave the steaks needed more salt. Wanting to accommodate his guest, Dave followed his suggestion.
Then another guest came over and suggested the food needed more steak sauce. Again, Dave did as his guest asked. Each guest proceeded to make some suggestion about how to make the steaks better; add garlic, turn the flame up, turn the heat down, more spices, less spices.
When Dave served the steaks, no one liked them. Even though Dave knew how to make a tasty steak, he listened to everyone. The result was inedible food. If Dave had done the cooking his way, everything would have turned out fine. Dave’s party would have been much more successful had he turned his back to the crowd.
Imagine Dave’s frustration. In spite of all the effort, time, and money he put into having a successful party, it was a flop. Dave tried to please everyone but in the end no one was happy.
What happened to Dave is exactly what happens to many people. They take advice from anyone and everyone. Their minds constantly vacillate depending on who they are speaking to at the moment. The result is just as unsatisfactory as the food at Dave’s barbecue.
There was a better way for Dave to handle the situation. All he had to do was thank each of his friends for their suggestion while he continued to grill the food his way. With this approach, Dave would have had a successful party without being rude to anyone.
Turn your back to the crowd. Do your own thing. Conduct your life the way you want. Thank others for their suggestions while proceeding along your own path. Keep your attention focused on what’s ahead of you.