--- title: "Monday Buzz: Why you Should Ignore the Haters" id: "23451" type: "post" slug: "monday-buzz-why-you-should-ignore-the-haters" published_at: "2014-06-02T16:52:35+00:00" modified_at: "2026-11-09T18:23:30+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2014/06/02/monday-buzz-why-you-should-ignore-the-haters/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2014/06/02/monday-buzz-why-you-should-ignore-the-haters.md" excerpt: "The goal should be to succeed for yourself, not to prove the doubters wrong. Also: Want to build something brilliant? Focus on making things easier for the end user." taxonomy_category: - "Organizational Strategy" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "Business" - "Innovation" - "Leadership" - "Web Strategy" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Director" - "Manager" - "VP" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Monday Buzz: Why you Should Ignore the Haters *“Be motivated by the people who support you. Be inspired by the people who are in your corner. Be led by the people who are rooting for you.”* Too often, our instincts kick in when we’re dealing with failure or someone who isn’t in our corner, and it leads us to try to find motivation in proving the haters wrong. But that’s the wrong strategy, [argues Rosetta Thurman (opens in a new tab)](http://happyblackwoman.com/dont-let-your-haters-be-your-motivators/) . Over at her *Happy Black Woman* blog, she says such motivation is ultimately self-defeating, because it sets parameters on how you live your life—parameters that can hold you back in the long run. “You should be motivated by your OWN ambitions, not by the fact that someone doesn’t like you or how you live your life,” she writes. “This is the opposite of being empowered.” Feel motivated? Good. Now go take over the world—and ignore the haters. ### Fewer Steps = Better Ideas http://vimeo.com/86737256 **Sometimes the best new idea** is a better take on an old one. At his personal blog, *Ninjas and Robots*, [Draft (opens in a new tab)](https://draftin.com/) creator and developer Nathan Kontny discusses how, often, [the best business ideas come to light through simplification (opens in a new tab)](http://ninjasandrobots.com/how-to-get-business-ideas-remove-steps/) . He cites the example of Steve Hoeting, who ran into a problem when he was making brownies—he kept having to stop what he was doing to make sure he was reading his measuring cup correctly. This led to a realization. “Could he shave steps from that process by putting the ruler at an angle to read it from above? A couple prototypes later, he had a crude design, which went [on to] become the wild success of the OXO measuring cup,” Kontny writes. (Watch a clip of Hoeting talking about his invention above.) Kontny’s point? Sometimes the best new ideas take common problems and remove as many extra steps as possible. Can you bring this mentality to your association’s offerings? ### Other good reads **Maybe the strategy** for keeping your millennial employees on a little longer is to encourage them to quit. Wait, what? [Jeff Haden explains over at Inc.com (opens in a new tab)](http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/to-keep-your-employees-longer-just-tell-them-to-quit-fri.html) . **Do you find your nonprofit organization** increasingly competing with for-profit entities for the same services? Plexus Consulting’s [Steven Worth describes what you should do (opens in a new tab)](http://plexusconsulting.blogspot.com/2014/05/competing-with-for-profits.html) to tackle the situation. **You never know what might happen** at your next fundraising event. Gail Perry [has a few horror stories (opens in a new tab)](http://www.gailperry.com/2014/05/make-mistakes-next-fundraising-event/) for you to learn from. (iStock/Thinkstock) [Ernie Smith](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Tags: [#Business](https://associationsnow.com/tag/business/) [#Innovation](https://associationsnow.com/tag/innovation/) [#Leadership](https://associationsnow.com/tag/leadership/) [#Web Strategy](https://associationsnow.com/tag/web-strategy/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [VideoChallenge Legacy Mindsets at MMC+TechApril 17, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/04/17/challenge-legacy-mindsets-at-mmctech/) - [ArticleKeys to Innovation at Long-Running AssociationsNovember 3, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/11/03/keys-to-innovation-at-long-running-associations/) - [ArticleThree Habits Association Leaders Should Adopt for Agile Strategic PlanningOctober 29, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/10/29/three-habits-association-leaders-should-adopt-for-agile-strategic-planning/) - [ArticlePart 1: The Sponsorship Problem Isn’t Actually a Sponsorship ProblemAugust 11, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/08/11/part-1-the-sponsorship-problem-isnt-actually-a-sponsorship-problem/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2014%2F06%2F02%2Fmonday-buzz-why-you-should-ignore-the-haters%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !