I heard a Babe Ruth quote yesterday that really made me think.
“The loudest boos always come from the cheapest seats.” – Babe Ruth
Of course he was talking about baseball fans. We remember Babe Ruth as the King of Swing or the Sultan of Swat. We remember him as I guy that just got up and swung for the fence every single time he got up to bat. Yet there were people that boo’d the Great Bambino.
I am sure they boo’d when he struck out and mostly just wanted to see another ball fly out of the park. Some, I am sure truly did not like him the same way we still do not like some of the Yankee players. (that is because hey are Yankees). In any case he got boo’d. The fact that he called out the people in the cheap seats is what struck me and I got to thinking about the people that boo me and where they sit in my life.
Do people actually boo me? Well, not so much in the literal sense but, there are certainly those that do and say things that are the equivalent of booing in my life. People who shake their heads at my latest idea. People who laugh and think they have me all figured out. The people who take more pleasure in seeing what TV producers can do to entertain than what it took to stand face to face with 5 multimillionaires and pitch an idea. The people who talk behind my back then want something for free, and I could go on.
These people sit in the cheap seats. They sit in the comfort of the lives that they have settled for and would rather not see anyone they know succeed. If they did actually know of someone who did, it would just prove to them that it could be done and take away one more excuse for why they are unhappy.
Think about the people who truly encourage you in life. Are they the people in your everyday life or are they someone else? I would be willing to bet that the most encouragement that most get comes from the expensive seats. Those are the seats in the stadium of your life that are occupied (or should be occupied) by the people you really trust and want you to succeed.
The people in those seats are the ones you should be listening to. You think that Babe Ruth listened to the loudmouth booing him and let it affect the way he swung the next time at bat? I don’t think so. We do seem to listen to those people most of the time in our lives.
We get excited about an idea and somehow Larry at the water cooler shoots it down and deflates your balloon. Larry is broke, unhappy, and on his third marriage! Why are you listening to him! He is in the cheap seats and not worth listening to I guarantee it.
Your life is your stadium and the name on the back of your shirt is yours. There will always be people in the cheap seats but, you make the decision to listen to them or not. I would pay more attention to the people you let sit in the suites, they are the ones that will ultimately help you.
365 Days To My First Million. 