You have a great idea. You're really excited about it. You have all sorts of successful thoughts running through your mind. You can't wait to tell somebody.

Watch out! Danger could be lurking on your very next move.

But you're so excited. You blurt out your idea and then it happens...

Barf!

You're stunned. The reaction you get is a shock. Words like - "You'll never be able to do that!" The wind is sucked right out of your sails. "What makes you think that somebody like you will be able to do that?" Now your ship is becalmed.

So, what just happened? I'll tell you what happened. You shared your dream with a "dream thief." Sometimes I refer to them the "Barf Brigade." You tell them something and they go "uughh-euwww-uughh!"

Dream thieves are people who knowingly or unknowingly tip cold water all over your bubbling enthusiasm. These are the people who can't or won't do anything successful themselves and take pleasure out of trying to keep everybody else down at their level. Don't listen to them.

You can always tell a member of the Barf Brigade. First, they are classic non-achievers. Like pigeons they seek safety in numbers. They do little but they talk a lot. They are full of "reasons" to justify their excuses. Mostly what comes out of their mouths are words like "impossible" and "can't" or "don't" or "won't."

Have you got the image of somebody in mind here?

OK. What do you do?

1. The simplest thing is not to tell them anything about your dreams and goals until after you have achieved them. Then, you still need to be careful. They will say things like: "I could never do that" (No. They couldn't - because they will never try) or "You'll never be able to keep it up" or "That will eventually get you into a lot of trouble." I'm not talking about advice here. I'm talking about people who want to flatten your enthusiasm at every turn.

2. If you live with a friend or partner or relative who continually says negative things like this it can be difficult. If practicable, you could try living somewhere else. That would remove the negative influence. But if that is not a viable option then there is only one way to fight back. Every time you get barfed on you can either block it out or, even better, replace the negative attack with some positive defense. How do you do that?

The best way to defend yourself against negative attacks is to implant your conscious and your sub-conscious with positive affirmations.

A positive affirmation is a short set of words (usually less than 100) which are inspiring and encouraging. It should be written in a pro-active voice and should contain your name so that it becomes personalized to you. You can write affirmations to assist you with exercise, smoking, weight control, achievement, money matters, employment and any other area of your life that needs improvement.

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