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Marie: Hey, it’s Marie Forleo and you are watching MarieTV, the place to be
if you want to create a business and life you love. And this is Q&A Tuesday and today’s
question comes from Paige in New Zealand, and she writes:
“Hey Marie, I'm just about to turn 19. Even though I'm young, I have big dreams. The problem
is people keep telling me my dreams are not realistic and that I'm letting myself down.
I was going to be a doctor and then decided that wasn’t really what I wanted. Now I
want to be a professional event and party planner and grow my business into something
huge that I can be proud of. How can I get past caring so much about what others think?
Should I play it safe and get a degree in something that has a secure job at the end
of it? What's your advice for young people just starting out in the business world? There's
so much I don’t know and your YouTube channel is really helping me. Thank you.”
Paige, these are awesome questions and I think it’s something that all of us can relate
to no matter what age we are. The first thing I want to talk about is what you shared, ‘should
I get a degree with a secure job at the end of it?’ A little reality check for you my
love; those days are over. There's really no such thing as a secure job anymore. I think
if you take a look around at what's happening in the world, you go into any Starbucks and
you'll see some lawyers and some stockbrokers networking out of there who would totally
back me up on this.
Paige, I know you said you want to start your own business and that’s awesome, but for
everyone else, even if you don’t want to start your own business, hear me on this:
entrepreneurship is a mindset that everyone on the planet needs. If you want to thrive
now and in the future, the only people that are going to really make it in this world
are people that'll take initiative, that'll take action and that think and behave like
entrepreneurs. One of the first and most important things about that is getting real comfortable
with not giving a flying fudge what other people think about you.
Let me take you back in my own life. I was only a few years older than you and I decided
that I wanted to be a life coach. Now you got to get this: this was back when no one
even heard of a life coach. Those words “life coach” made as much sense to people as dream
farmer or potato doctor. Plus, I was 23 years old; who in their right mind would hire a
23-year-old life coach? Even I was rolling my eyes at myself.
The point is don’t let anyone’s bullsh*t opinions or judgments about what you can't
do, especially your own, stop you from following your dreams. You will never do anything great
in your life if you’ve got this song stuck in your head.
Paige, you say you want to plan parties and events, so get to it woman. Don’t wait for
people to give you permission or until you have some degree; just find somebody who needs
a party planned and plan the confetti out of it, and then you do another and then another
and then another and then all of a sudden, mozoltov, you are a party planner. In terms
of education, I am 100% for education. In fact, I always advocate for people to be lifelong
learners, but don’t limit your education to only what you can learn in the classroom.
You should consider getting a job or two with more established event planners so you can
really learn about the industry from the inside out. There's one more thing and this is my
final and perhaps more important piece of advice: you’ve got to be really conscious
of who you surround yourself with. You got to get rid of everybody who’s negative and
all the naysayers. If that means getting some new friends, definitely do it. You also want
to feed yourself some really positive things to your mind and your body and your soul day
after day. I know you love MarieTV because it’s a positive wholesome family kind of
show and of course it’s gluten free.
Remember, keep surrounding yourself with positive people. In fact, you should find some people
your age and get inspired by them. Everybody knows I'm a huge fan of Malala Yousafzai,
who is your age, and there's also another incredibly inspiring young woman whose name
is Tavi Gevinson. You can find entrepreneur groups in your area, you can find them online;
the bottom line here is that with the right support and the right attitude and a ton of
action, you can create anything you desire.
Page, that was my A to your Q. I hope it helps. Now I would love to hear from you. Have you
ever accomplished something that people around you said was unrealistic? How did you handle
their criticism and their doubt? I would love to know your stories so tell me about in the
comments below. Of course, the best discussions happen after the episode over at MarieForleo.com
so go there and leave a comment now.
Did you like this video? If so, subscribe to our channel and of course share it with
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Stay on your game and keep going for your dreams because the world needs that special
gift that only you have. Thank you so much for watching and I’ll catch you next time
on MarieTV.