So you’ve decided that you want to go to nursing school and now your soul is flooded with feelings of anticipation, excitement, and perhaps some uncertainty as to what’s to come. You may even be downright terrified of starting the whole process. Making a life decision as big as this one is bound to come with a whirlwind of emotions as that is totally normal.
Unfortunately what is also the norm is running into negativity and criticism from people in your life, and the sad thing about this is that this often comes from people who you may consider to be close friends or even family.
Why is it so difficult for people to support you in your life endeavors. Whether your dreams and aspirations are small or grand, they are YOUR dreams to pursue. Yes some people will fail or realize its not for them, but that is for them to figure out on there own. We need the people in our lives to believe in us and give us encouragement to pursue our goals.
Recently a good friend of mine applied to a  registered nursing program and was not accepted. She was heartbroken and I could tell the rejection completely broke her spirit. Having already traveled the nursing road, I suggested that she consider applying to an licensed practical nursing program. I advised her that once she became a LPN it would be a lot easier for her to get accepted in RN programs if she chose to continue her education. I gave her this advice because this was the exact road I had taken years ago when starting my nursing school journey. I could see that this new option had completely revived her energy and hope to continue pursing her goal.
I learned shortly having this conversation with my friend that she was no longer considering pursing LPN programs. She had discussed this with one of her best friends and was given a tremendous amount of backlash. Her friend said things to her such as “why are you doing that?” “That is such a waste of time?” and “you shouldn’t do that, that’s stupid!” Really?
When I heard this I was appalled. Why is someone that isn’t even in the nursing field themselves qualified to say such awful things? Furthermore, why would a “friend” just completely shut down a person’s goals like that?
Sadly the story above is not a unique situation. Whenever you decide to pursue a challenge or set a goal, you will almost always run into a negative person who wants to sabotage your success.
This has happened to me in my life an unbelievable amount to times, not just in my pursuit to become a nurse, but in various things I have tried to achieve personally and professionally.
My message to everyone is simple. If you have a goal, as Taylor Swift said it best, when it comes to haters, they are going to “hate, hate, hate, hate, hate”, but you just need to “shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake em off!”
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About the Author
Hi I’m Salimah Jones, I am a Family Nurse Practitioner, author, and Founder of The Nursing Guide, an online community dedicated to helping aspiring and current nurses overcome life’s challenges to achieve their professional goals. Coming from a disadvantaged background, and having experienced the struggles of pursuing a career while working and raising a family, I am now dedicated to helping others find ways to make their dreams a reality. I provide practical solutions to help those who are struggling with finances, learning difficulties, motivation, work-life-balance, or lack of a social support system. I want to show you how to conquer any challenge so that you can become your own success story. Please subscribe to this blog and don’t forget to sign up for your free membership on The Nursing Guide Website. Connect with me on twitter @salimahjones.
#keepwriting. Enjoyed reading this post. Yes, there are haters everywhere. My daughter’s wants to be an actress. She was just 4 years old at the time we talked about moving to Hollywood temporarily. Almost everyone thought we lost our mind. Really? For a 4 year old. Yada yada yada. Until they saw her on tv and on toy bixes, etc, etc in stores. Man, did they jump on the bandwagon to quickly brag about knowing us or being a relative. So sad how unsupportive people can be.
Ive gotten backlash from nurses who have been LPN’s for many years about me wanting to persue my BSN to be come a RN. They say its a waste of time. They get treated by superiors. Ect… its to a point where ive stopped sharing my dreams n goals with other nurses.😔 Im happy to read that someone gets it about how haters hate n will eip a persons dreams apart..
As quoted by bishop TD Jakes, “You don’t have to believe in my dream!”. There will always be someone that will not believe in what you want to be, but that is no excuse to you to not believe in yourself! We all are beautiful and unique with our own talents and anointings. There is also a difference in constructive criticism and plain hating. The way I see it, both has its proper time and place. Constructive criticism helps with growth, but not too much. Like fertilizer, too much criticism can make just a big stinking pile of mess. For haters, people tend to find fault in others (true or not) when in reality it is in them. Having someone’s attention, hating or praising, is simply a sign that you are doing something worth while. Make the hater nation your motivation to continue!