Supporters vs. Cheerleaders

You will always run into people who will doubt your abilities and your talents. On one hand, you should never turn a deaf ear to feedback, even if it is destructive feedback. Their honesty might be the only way of making sure you're not being delusional about your talents. At the same time, it is important to surround yourself with people who want you to succeed. The people who want you to succeed will still give you feedback, and they will do it in a way that sets you up for success. These are your supporters.

Don't confuse these supporters with cheerleaders. Cheerleading can be just as useless as destructive feedback. Cheerleaders have their place in terms of boosting your morale. But cheerleaders alone won't make you successful.

Supporters will not only boost your confidence when you need it, they help you stay accountable to your goals. Supporters are also your best marketers. They not only spread good word about your work, they'll actually bring clients to you.

What you want are people who provide constructive feedback on how to succeed. These are your supporters. If you find that the people are just praising your work, but have never bought a single thing from you, or if they have never brought a client to you, they're cheerleaders, not supporters.