Amazing Things Will Happen: A Real-World Guide on Achieving Success and Happiness

Chapter 31

Don’t Let the Asshats and Ankle Biters Get You Down

Realize right now that not everyone is going to embrace the path you choose to follow. You will have doubters, skeptics, and haters no matter what you do. If you don’t have them, then you are not stretching yourself enough.

UrbanDictionary.com defines a troll as: “One who posts a deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or message board with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument.”

This may be an online-focused definition, but there are just as many trolls in the real world as well. Similar to those you find on the Internet, they walk among us just looking to cause trouble, without any clear focus on who they bother, as long as they bother someone.

The simple rule is to never feed the trolls.

They thrive off of attention, and any that you give them will encourage them to not only hang around but also throw more insults at you. It is never easy, but you should ignore them and move on.

Although trolls fling hate aimlessly, they long to stir the pot without ever adding anything to it. They tend to be easy to identify and move past once you know what to look for.

But, trolls aren’t the type of people who are going to hold you back from being happy or successful. Those types of people I’ve dubbed asshats and ankle biters.

An asshat is someone who is clearly misguided. Asshats believe that what they are doing is correct and proper, but in reality, they are clueless about the actions they are taking. ...