“Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember… the only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you.”

—Zig Ziglar, American author, salesman, and motivational speaker

Photo from Flickr by Stuart Richards

How are you doing on your personal success journey? If you gave yourself a grade, would you be deserving of an “A+”? Or would it be something less remarkable?

It’s not unusual for most of us to be distracted by nay-Sayers – those who cause us to doubt our progress and take our foot off the gas, even if it is only momentary.

Perhaps the critics feel that as we move forward, they fall further behind. They point the finger at us rather than themselves in an attempt to sabotage our efforts or deflate our sense of accomplishment so they can feel better about themselves.

EXERCISE:

How can you invite more people in your professional and personal worlds to join you in their own success journey? Should they choose not to come along, how will you shield yourself from their biting criticism? What if you removed the toxic individuals from your life entirely?