• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Home
About Us Contact Us Advertising
Articles
Budgeting Debt Frugal Insurance Investing Making Money Retirement Saving Money
Tips
Money Saving Tips Trash Audit
Make Money Forums Blogs
Create a Blog Control Panel All Entries All Blogs
Tools
Calculators Prescription Drug Coupons Online Savings Accounts Test Your Knowledge Financial Directory Credit Cards

SavingAdvice.com Blog

Bridging the gap between saving money and investing

Subscribe

 

Join Now or Login

  • Home
    • Advertising
  • Tips
    • Money Saving Tips
    • Recycle, Reuse and Repurpose
  • Make Money
  • Credit Score Guide
  • Forums
  • Blogs
    • Create a Blog
  • Tools
  • Financial Basics
    • Back to Basics: Saving Money
    • Back to Basics: Beginners Guide to Retirement
    • Back to Basics: What Every Child Under 10 Should Know About Personal Finance
    • Back to Financial Basics: Investing In Stocks

Great Murderers

September 17, 2007 by J. Alan Maguire

great murders

In her book, If You Want to Write, Barbara Ueland states, “Families are great murderers of the creative impulse…” This statement is bold, but unfortunately true for many. Many have had family members shoot down great ideas as too good to be true, too difficult or maybe even stupid.

Do you want to start a business, go back to school, tackle debt, save for a house or some other goal? Can you count on your family to support your idea? Many times family members mean well when they try to discourage you from pursuing an idea or question your sanity, but it still hurts.

There are ways to avoid this, or at the very least, soften the blow of such situations and still keep on track to achieve your goals.

Have a plan. One of the best ways to confront a naysayer is to talk with them about it. Give them your best pitch for your idea. Explain to them how you have thought out your idea and plan to tackle it. Show them possible roadblocks and problems you expect to encounter. Elaborate on how you are aware of the risks and are prepared for them. You can help win the skeptical over with a detailed map of the road you are about to travel.

Make a deal. Convince them to back you up by setting timelines and benchmarks. Just make very sure you hit each one to show them you were right.

Look at it from their side. Maybe they have failed to reach their goals and resent your trying. Their past failures may drive them to try to keep you from making their same mistakes. They could also have ideas of their own but have never acted on them, causing jealousy. Understanding where they are coming from may help you convince them you know what you are doing.

Find support. Not everyone will necessarily be critical. Find those family and friends who are supportive. They may help convince others to give you a chance. And they will supply the support you need to keep you going.

Keep your eye on the prize. Do not lose your focus on your dreams. Sometimes we have to just grit our teeth and persevere despite criticism thrown our way. Make it a goal to prove them wrong.

Silence is everything. Sometimes the best option is to keep your ideas to yourself, especially in the beginning when you are just getting started. Once you get things going, then you can slowly introduce them to what you have in mind and show them the progress you have made with a detailed plan of what you will be doing next. One exception to this is if you are using resources of a family member, you should probably let them know. Sneaking around with their money will break their trust in you and severely hamper your chances to gain their understanding and support.

Image courtesy of swissrolli

Reader Interactions

What did you think about this article?
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (No Ratings Yet)
Loading...

Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Primary Sidebar

    • Articles
    • Tips
    • Make Money
    • Credit Score Guide
    • Forums
    • Blogs
    • Tools
    • About
    • Contact

    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
    Your subscription has been successful.
    Copyright © 2025 SavingAdvice.com. All Rights Reserved.
    • Privacy Policy