“You can’t do that.”

“It’s not going to work.”

“You need to come back to reality.”

“Life doesn’t work that way.”

“It worked for him because he knew someone… or because he had something you don’t.”

“And besides, look at your charges. It’s impossible.”

When I tell people what I plan to do with the rest of my life, I usually get the same reaction. I see brows wrinkle. I get that distant stare. I can almost hear the question they’re asking themselves:

Who do you think you are?

I’m not exactly sure why people react that way. I don’t think most of them are trying to be hurtful. In fact, many probably believe they’re helping me.

The difference is they don’t fully understand why I’m so confident.

They haven’t spent years studying success the way I have. They haven’t read the books, watched the interviews, attended the seminars, or learned from people who’ve already done what I’m trying to do.

If they had, maybe they’d see what I see.

Time after time, I’ve watched successful people follow remarkably similar paths. That has convinced me that success isn’t random.

It leaves clues.

One thing I’ve noticed is that discouragement is often part of the journey.

Arnold Schwarzenegger told a story that has stayed with me.

As a teenager growing up in Austria, he saw a picture of a bodybuilder in a magazine and decided that’s who he wanted to become. People laughed and told him to be realistic.

Later, he saw pictures of America—its skyscrapers, huge cities, and wide highways—and decided that was where he wanted to live.

People laughed again.

After becoming Mr. Universe multiple times, he decided he wanted to become an actor.

Once again, people told him it would never happen.

The agents said his body was too muscular. His accent was too thick. Even his name was impossible to pronounce.

His first movie, Hercules in New York flopped.

Most people would have taken that as proof everyone else had been right.

Arnold didn’t.

He took acting classes. Speech classes. He changed what needed changing without giving up who he was. He even lost muscle so he would fit better into movie roles.

The rest is history.

He became one of the highest-paid actors in the world and remains one of the most recognizable actors of all time.

Near the end of his speech, he quoted Nelson Mandela:

“Everything seems impossible until someone does it.”

That quote reminds me not to let other people’s doubts become my limits.

Instead, I see skepticism as confirmation that I’m attempting something uncommon.

The same goes for failure.

Failure isn’t apart from success.

It’s a part of success.

I’m already looking forward to my next failure because it means I’m still moving toward the life I’m trying to build.