Have you ever tried telling a friend or family member about your idea for a new business? Most likely they shot you down and said it will never work. And if the world contains roughly equal numbers of optimists and pessimists, why is this behavior so dominant?

To answer this question, let’s think about the possible outcomes. Most new businesses fail, so the naysayer will be right maybe 80% of the time. And in the rest of the cases, they have an easy crutch to fall back on. They can just say “I told you what you needed to hear”, thus assigning themselves part of the credit for motivating you to prove them wrong.

In other words, it’s very easy for people to be skeptical and treat new ideas harshly. The way they see it, they can’t lose by being a naysayer. For those of us who actually spend our time implementing new ideas and growing a business, it’s best to recognize this phenomenon when you see it — and just ignore what the naysayers tell you.