“My haters get to tell me how to live my life.”

I might never admit that out loud, but sometimes that’s exactly what my actions say.

Case in point, when I do a book tour, I try to be vocal about it online.

I’ve learned over the years that if you don’t tell people you’re coming to their city, they won’t come to your event. Novel thought, right? People can’t attend events they don’t know exist.

As I plan for the event, I put the information on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and my blog. Each time I do, I hear a small voice inside say, “You’re bothering people too much with your announcements. They’re tired of hearing you talk about the events. Someone is going to get mad and criticize you.” So I pull back, I flinch and start posting less. The fear of that invisible hater edits my actions.

I only emailed my readers one time about my 15-City Do Over tour. I was afraid that someone would get mad. I was afraid people would angrily unsubscribe or worse mark me down as spam. So I went to all the trouble of traveling thousands of miles across the country and only sent out one email.

One night, after I posted the photo of the event I did in Kansas City, someone tweeted, “I wish I had known you were coming to town. I would have loved to have gone.”

In that moment, I realized I was performing for my foes, not my friends. I was so worried about pleasing people who didn’t like me that I under served the people who do.

Who was I concerned about offending? One or two people who weren’t going to attend the event anyway? That’s what really kills me.

The people who don’t like what you’re creating are not the audience that matters. Trying to convince them to like you, your business or your service is a terrific waste of time. And in focusing on people who don’t like you, you often ignore the people who matter – your friends, your clients, and your fans. You end up quieting your voice to please other people.

[Tweet “Sometimes, in our desire to win over people who don’t like us, we ignore the people who do. “]

I wrote this idea as part of a collection of essays called, “Living Loud in a World Full of Haters.” It’s a special resource you get for free when you sign up for the 30 Days of Hustle Challenge, a video course I made that teaches you how to accomplish your goals.

I taught it to 10,000 people last year and 2,500 people in January. It’s crazy what you can do when you get plugged into a private community of supporters and learn how to hustle on you dreams. Registration ends Friday night at midnight, so tomorrow I’ll probably stop talking about it.

Until then, this is your invitation. I don’t want you to miss it, you can sign up right here.

But even if you don’t, make sure that in whatever you do, you don’t let the hate get you down.

Use your voice.

You’re the only one who has it.

[Tweet “Use your voice. You’re the only one who has it. “]