Someone recently tore into me for living differently. Called me irresponsible. Said I was wasting my life pursuing a dream of creative work instead of getting a "real job." And you know what? They were right about one thing—I am living differently. But here's what they didn't expect: Their attack became a breakthrough I needed. Because buried in their criticism was something valuable—a clear mirror showing me the voices that have been sabotaging me from the inside. The same voices that are probably sabotaging you right now. I want to share what I've learned about turning your harshest critics—both external and internal—into something useful. About how a shift in perspective can help you see the people trying to tear you down differently. And why the thing that defeats them isn't what you'd expect. If you're tired of second-guessing yourself, tired of letting other people's opinions dictate your choices, tired of that voice in your head that says you're not cut out for the life you actually want—this story's for you. (Author’s Note: This article is the written version of the post’s video. Which is actually the big news I’ve been talking about: I’m starting a podcast! And I’m releasing it early here on Substack before I put it on YouTube or anywhere else!) Photo by kate.sade on Unsplash The Corporate Burnout That Changed Everything My last job as a customer service agent at a sporting goods corporation wasn't great for me. It burnt me out of the corporate scene and showed me that's not my path. It taught me I need to go all out for myself in business, entrepreneurial pursuits, and creative things. I'm not suited for the cubicle lifestyle. The regular-job grind doesn't work for me. I get tired of things once I've learned the basics unless there's a clear path of progression—more things to learn, expand, and gain new skills. Without that opportunity, I burn out fast. I experienced this firsthand when I worked too much overtime. It was the experience that made me say I'd had it. After that, I knew I had to figure out what I'm going to do with my life. I'm not climbing the corporate ladder or doing what everyone else does. I need something that works for me. But here's what I learned from that job—I enjoyed connecting with people. Before that, I had the whole "I hate people" mantra that many say these days. But I learned I liked my customers. We had great conversations. I could defuse them and bring them down from whatever bad mood they were in. Many had good reason to be upset—they'd been on hold for hours. But by the time we finished, we were laughing like old friends. Twenty percent would say, "Do you do radio? You have a voice for radio. You should be doing something with that!" (Oh, well, thank you.) I'd say, "This is what I'm doing for now." Rediscovering What I'd Always Loved I got burned out doing that job. I became disgusted with the entire thing. So I took a sabbatical. I spent time soul searching, trying to figure out what I want to do with my life, what I'm here for. I kept coming back to what I've always loved: creating content—audio, video, images, and writing. My dad had me using Adobe Photoshop on our old Macintosh computers in the '90s when I was 7 years old and into the ‘00s. I played with Photoshop add-on filters (KPT 3 filters for those who remember), Bryce, Poser, and other software. I had fun with that stuff. He also enlisted my help to transfer files to him from his home office when he was at his job as well as other technical assistant-type work. I had older software too—a precursor to today's DAWs. Using that application (we didn’t call them apps yet) I played with sound and scripting. I would grab my grandpa when he was visiting and have him record little shows with me on the beige mic that sat on the beige monitor on top of the beige Mac. There was a lot of beige back then. A picture of the same model I grew up on: The Apple Macintosh Performa 6320CD We also had this game called Hollywood that came with the computer. It made you into a sort of digital director and producer using cartoon characters that you could script to make short movie skits. It used the early Macintosh text-to-speech technology, which was way ahead of its time. I was fascinated with using all of the effects, facial expressions, character movements, and voices to create my own little stories. I tended toward comedy, sci-fi, and drama mostly. Yet even after all that fun and creativity, I fell into the same rhythm everyone else does. You have to work a job, find something solid, get an income. That's all there is. So I forgot about those things I loved as a kid. But I ended up in a podcast because friends invited me as a guest. After that, they asked, "How would you like to be our third founding member?" I said sure because it was fun and reminded me of something. Over time, I realized this is what I was doing as a kid, now as an adult. I eventually became the podcast's editor and one of the founding members. I had a lot of faith in where we were going with the show. I even joked that we could beat Joe Rogan! But over time, the dynamic changed and I realized it wasn't the right fit for me. I didn't step away well — I quiet-quit and avoided some of the hard conversations, which I still partly regret. The Hero's Journey We're All On We're all on this hero's journey, discovering who we are and what we're meant to produce in the world. The hero's journey means getting out into the unknown, leaving what was familiar, finding answers, and bringing a solution back. On this journey, we encounter enemies, allies, and tests. Enemies can be useful. They help us understand what we're up against. They help us deal with the voices inside us—the excuses, arguments, things saying we're wrong. Our enemies flesh out those arguments and ideas inside us that conflict with our vision and what we want in life. They're doing us a favor. Photo by David Clode on Unsplash When Someone Attacks Your Lifestyle My wife and I had a recent incident where a lady was dogging us for our lifestyle, slamming us for what she thought we should do differently. She thought we were irresponsible, getting all over us because we weren't being "normal." Sure, we're not massively successful right now. We're not world renowned for our content creating (not yet, that is). We're in a less than perfect position, but we're happy. Yes, we have things we want to do that we can't yet, but we're getting somewhere. We feel it and know we're doing what we're meant to do. It's not all about money or everyone's approval. What we do, we do because we love it and it matters to us. Yes, it needs to be sustainable. We need to gain enough traction and figure out the finances. But sometimes there are leaps of faith and risks to take. Sometimes we pursue something for a long time when it doesn't make sense to others. And when someone decides to get loud in your face, challenging your whole direction… You've found the person who voices the doubts and fears you're already dealing with in your head. That's hard at first. It hurts. Yet it also helps you identify the place in yourself where those words land so that you can fortify it. The part of you that resonates with those words is actually the greater enemy. Why Rest is Warfare After recognizing the enemy, the next step is learning how to effectively fight them. Well in this case, rest is the most effective form of warfare. What do I mean? Your enemies will push you and work on you. They'll worry you, torment you, try to get you to quit doing what you know you need to do. They'll get into your head and make you feel what you're trying to do is impossible. They'll undermine and discourage you. Enemies try to discourage you. They redirect and misdirect you to things you're not made for, things that won't work for you. They want you in chaos, where your mind is all over the place, bouncing around, worried, unable to focus on what you're meant to do. It's like psychological warfare in boxing or MMA—trying to get in the other guy's head so he can't focus and fight smart. He gets upset, disturbed, confused, and it's the same in life. Rest is warfare, a weapon against that stuff, because that's what they don't want you to do. They don't want you to calm down and think things through. They don't want you taking time to enjoy what you're doing and think about the big picture. They want you frantic and frenetic, losing your mind over the stuff they're seeding—things to get scared and upset about. That's the last thing you want. Because desperation, fear, anxiety, panic, depression, and anger don't help when you want to be creative. They don't help when you're solving problems. Learning to Rest I have to admit that rest has been difficult for me. It's not easy, and I'm still learning. But we need rhythms in life. You can't go constantly and never stop. It’s not good to go insane with constant productivity, never stopping to reflect, think, and meditate. You need to connect with God, the universe, nature, friends, family, yourself. You need times to check in with yourself. One concrete practice that's helped us is two-way journaling: write a short letter to God (or to whatever inner authority you use), then sit quietly and listen. After you write, wait and note any impressions, images, or phrases that come back—treat them like a response. Sometimes it's silence; other times surprising clarity or direction drops into your mind. For us, that pause-and-listen habit has been a reliable way to get grounded and hear what to do next. If you work for yourself, if you're a creator doing things your own way, it's tempting to never stop working. If your office is your home and your home is your office, it's difficult to ever stop working because your brain automatically thinks, "What else can I do? I should be doing this over here or that over there." It's hard to stop and relax. The thinking you do in rest
