Summary

The article "He Said It" discusses the importance of taking action and persevering in the face of criticism, emphasizing the value of doing what others won't and the personal growth that comes from daring to fail and succeed.

Abstract

"He Said It" is a reflective piece that echoes Teddy Roosevelt's sentiments on the significance of being the person in the arena, facing challenges head-on. The author, inspired by Jeff Haden's article in Inc. Magazine, acknowledges the progress made by marginalized groups in claiming their rightful places in various fields, despite the critics. The article underscores the idea that success is achieved by those who are willing to outthink, outwork, and out hustle others, and that living life to its fullest potential means ignoring the naysayers and doing the necessary work. It encourages readers to embrace hard work and take risks, despite the guaranteed failures and setbacks, as the path to achieving what others cannot.

Opinions

The author fully endorses Teddy Roosevelt's perspective that credit is due to those who actively strive and risk failure, not to the critics.
Social media has amplified the voices of critics, who often project their own life dissatisfactions onto those who are successful, particularly targeting women and people of color.
Success is found by doing what others refuse to do, not worrying about others' opinions, and committing to outperform competitors.
The author advocates for personal growth and achievement by stepping out of one's comfort zone and confronting challenges, despite the presence of critics and personal fears.
The article is a call to action for individuals to stop fearing criticism and to start doing the work required to achieve their goals, with the understanding that failure is a part of the journey to success.
The author expresses a personal commitment to beginning a new phase of work and health, setting an example for overcoming the critics and achieving personal aspirations.

He Said It

And with modifications, I agree completely

Jeff Haden, in writing for an article for Inc. Magazine, quoted Teddy Roosevelt, which I’m going to share here. But first, context.

As someone who does what most people don’t choose to do, in doing what most people talk about and never risk, I agree with Roosevelt’s sentiments completely, even if he was actually speaking of himself. However, in Teddy’s time, there were nowhere near as many women doing what they are doing now. Nowhere near as many people of color doing what they are doing now. My LinkedIn feed is full of firsts, Black folks making inroads and carving out their places where they have always belonged, people of color and gays and transgender folks and lots of people who don’t look like “traditional” leaders (read: white men) all doing what folks said they couldn’t or weren’t qualified for not very long ago.

I beg to differ.

So to them, and for those who spend so much time barking at, hurling shite at, criticizing and attacking those who simply go out and do, this is for you, modifications in parentheses:

It is not the critic who counts; not the (person)who points out how the strong (person) stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the (person)who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends (themselves)in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if (s/he they)fail, at least fails while daring greatly, so that (their)place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Increasingly, with the help of social media, those critics are given voice and agency which they’d never had before. Their dissatisfaction, disappointment and disgust about the failure that is their own lives fuel the vitriol thrown at those they consider inferior: women, people of color, indigenous people et.al, the ageing and elderly, all of whom strive, continue to strive and succeed.

That success is what disgusts the critics the most.

Which is precisely why it is so very important, as Haden writes,

The best way to be different is to do the things other people refuse to do.

The best way to live the life you want to live is to stop worrying about what other people think.

The best way to succeed is to outthink, out hustle, and outwork everyone else.

How you do that is up to you. You can play small, terrified of the critics, the ankle biters. You can. And your life will be lived at the lower end of What’s Possible.

Or, you can do the work, take the risks, do what’s necessary.

I am about to go hike a few miles today, which is the beginning of my dedicated workout program and return to top health after one helluva year. That’s only part of it.

I am this week beginning a brand new focus on my work, precisely because it’s hard, precisely because it’s intimidating, precisely because it’s outside my wheelhouse. I’ve been playing too small for too long in one area of my working life. Time to gear up.

There will be critics. There will be naysayers. You betcha.

Hope that business model works for ya, Sparky. When I stand on the next big mountain in MY life when the critics ask me how I “get” to do what I do,

You know my answer:

Get off your ass, stop bitching, and do the goddamned WORK.

Dedicated to my fellow oldies, my esteemed fellow writers of color, and all those who are bloody well sick and tired of the ankle-biters, the haters, and the armchair quarterbacks who will forever sit on life’s sidelines and be bitter about it.

Shake ’em off. You will fail. Guaranteed. You will fall and flop and falter and fuck up royally.

Yep. Guaranteed.

But when you pick yourself up, brush off and keep going, ultimately you will find yourself where others simply don’t have the guts to go.

And boy will you have the stories to tell.

Lace up, head out, and let’s get going.