The Little Compliment A Friend Told Me That Changed Everything
He still does not know what he did for me
I’d wanted to move to Vancouver for years. When I finally made it there, I was motivated, chasing a dream.
After only a couple of months, though, I realized that dream was not going to come to reality.
I sat with a friend on my couch, catching up, and I was telling him about something I was working on.
Truth is, I was sounding more optimistic than I really was.
That’s when he paused, looked at me, and told me what changed everything for me.
So, what did he say?
“Nik, you know what I admire about you?”
No idea.
“You are persistent. I’ve seen you try businesses. Some succeeded, and most failed. You got unlucky. But you keep trying, and you keep getting back up. Few people are that persistent.”
I sat there, kind of confused. I’d never really thought of myself that way.
I felt like I gave up too often. But he viewed the fact that I tried again despite failing as a good thing.
The truth is, I just tried again because I loved seeing my ideas come to life. I loved building.
But because of what he said, I started identifying myself as a persistent person.
How this changed me
When I moved back to Winnipeg, I felt a little lost. I was truly starting from scratch.
I had to work a job instead of running a business, was living with my parents, and didn’t really have any clue what was next.
But I’m a persistent guy. I knew that if I kept moving, the odds of growth would improve.
Opportunities started to come my way. Some good, some not so good.
I took on way too much. So I dropped some and focused on the others.
Still, my focus was not good enough. I started to lose money.
But I didn’t give up because (I reminded myself) I’m a persistent guy.
Eventually, the opportunity to open a restaurant came about. I was super hesitant to do it, but I fell in love with the building and wanted to see it come to life.
There was a ton of excitement around it. Naturally, I underestimated how hard it would be.
I wanted to give up and just drop it nearly every day for the first few months.
But I didn’t.
Because I’m a persistent guy.
Every step of the way, since my friend told me that, I faced crossroads where I could have easily given up, and honestly, the old me might have.
But I didn’t, because all that kept going through my head was that if he thinks I’m persistent, I’d better not prove him wrong.
I don’t even know if he truly meant what he said, but his compliment became my reality.
A couple of key takeaways
I tell you this not because I want to flex that I am persistent, but because I want to show you that your words have a much larger impact on people than you think.
One small genuine compliment can completely reshape someone’s future.
The same can be said with an insult. Hurtful words often stick around for longer than compliments.
And lastly, you can put as much meaning to something as you want.
I put more meaning on my friend’s compliment than he ever thought I would, and that changed everything for me.
So, what if you could do this with anything?
What if you purposely put meaning on things that could positively shape your future?
Things that made you happy or better?
Something worth thinking about when you go about your day.
Thanks for reading