DON'T TELL EVERYONE YOUR STORY - Inspired by Jack Ma

today I want to talk about something important something that many of you might be doing without even realizing its potential harm it's the habit of telling everyone your plans yes I'm serious many people love to announce every single idea they have every business plan every dream to anyone who would listen some of you probably do it on social media right hey guys I'm starting a new business wish me luck or I'm planning to do this do that but listen carefully my young friends don't tell everyone your plans today I'm going to explain why you see

when I was younger I made the same mistake I was so excited about my ideas that I couldn't wait to tell everyone I would sit down with my friends and we talk for hours about what we would do we would talk about starting companies changing the world and becoming billionaires oh how fun it was to dream but then I noticed something every time I talked about my plans things didn't go as well as I hoped the reason to any opinions when you tell everyone your plans what happens everyone starts giving you advice advice from people

who have never done what you're trying to do advice from people who are scared of taking risks themselves advice from people who let's be honest sometimes don't want to see you succeed it's like inviting a 100 chefs into your kitchen to make a single dish too many cooks spoil the broth my friends too many voices confuse your direction and then there's another problem when you speak too much about your plans you use up all the excitement in talking not doing think about it when you tell someone your big idea they might say wow that sounds

amazing and for a moment it feels like you've already succeeded you feel good but the problem is that feeling of accomplishment you get from Talking replaces the drive you need to actually do it instead of spending energy on execution you spend it on conversation instead of working quietly you're busy seeking validation my advice keep quiet let your actions do the talking now some of you might be thinking but Jack what's wrong with sharing my ideas shouldn't I ask for feedback shouldn't I get advice from people who care about me well here's where things get tricky

of course you should seek guidance but not from everyone you see not all advice is good advice let me give you an example when I started Alibaba nobody believed in us people thought I was crazy an e-commerce business in China are you serious the internet is for Western countries Jack not China I remember one of my teachers telling Jack maybe you should stick to teaching business is too risky if I had listened to them if I had shared my full vision with everyone and allowed them to plant doubts in my mind do you think Alibaba

would exist today of course not sometimes the people closest to you are the ones who unknowingly hold you back not because they don't love you but because they don't see what you see your vision is your vision it's personal it's Unique they haven't walked in your shoes they haven't experienced your thoughts your dreams your aspirations so how can they truly understand what you're trying to achieve that's why I say don't tell everyone your plans not everyone is ready to hear them not everyone is ready to believe in you the way you believe in yourself and

most importantly not everyone is capable of giving you the right kind of advice it's like planting a seed you don't pull the seed out every day to show everyone what you're growing no you leave it in the soil you water it you take care of it and one day it becomes a tree then and only then can people see the results of your hard work when you're quiet about your plans something magical happens you become more focused you stop worrying about what others think and you start focusing on the work itself that's when real progress

happens let me share a funny story with you when I first started building Alibaba there was a lot of noise everyone was talking about the.com Bubble about how e-commerce would never work in China I remember attending business meetings and people would say Jack you're wasting your time nobody in China wants to buy things online we prefer to go to the markets touch the products bargain for the price but what did I do did I go around arguing with them trying to convince them they were wrong no I kept my mouth shut and worked hard I

kept my vision close to my heart and focused on building something amazing we were a small team working day and night eating instant noodles sleeping in the office we didn't have time to talk we were too busy working and guess what when Alibaba finally took off everyone was shocked how did this happen they asked and I smiled I told you so I thought but I didn't say it out loud of course that's the beauty of quiet execution you surprise people with results not words now let's talk about something else jealousy this is a hard truth

but not everyone will be happy for you when you succeed in fact some people will be envious they might smile to your face but deep down they don't want you to win and you know what when you tell these kinds of people your plans they can sabotage you sometimes without even realizing it I'm sure many of you have experienced this you tell someone your dream and instead of supporting you they say things like are you sure that sounds risky or do you think you're really capable of doing that their doubts start to creep into your

mind you begin questioning yourself and before you know it you've lost confidence in your own ability that's what jealousy does it's subtle it's Sneaky and it can destroy your dreams before they even start so what's the solution solution simple don't give people the opportunity to be jealous keep your plans to yourself let them find out about your success when it's too late to stop you now don't get me wrong I'm not saying you should never tell anyone your plans of course there are times when you need advice when you need feedback when you need to

bounce ideas off someone else but here's the key be selective don't share your plans with people who don't understand your vision don't share them with people who are negative or pessimistic instead find a small group of trusted individuals people who believe in you people who have experience people who can offer constructive criticism in my case I had a few close friends and mentors who supported me during the early days of Alibaba they didn't always understand what I was doing but they believed in my ability to figure it out they encouraged me to keep going even

when things got tough and let me tell you things got really tough there were times when we had no money no resources no hope but because I surrounded myself with the right people I was able to push through the challenges I didn't need a 100 opinions I just needed a few good ones let's address another issue fear sometimes we tell everyone our plans because we're afraid afraid of failing afraid of looking foolish afraid of of making mistakes we think that by telling others we're somehow protecting ourselves we think that if we announce our plans to

the world will be held accountable and therefore more likely to succeed but here's the truth fear is a terrible motivator if you're making decisions out of fear you're not thinking clearly you're not acting from a place of confidence instead you're letting other people's opinions control your actions don't be afraid to fail don't be afraid to make mistakes failure is part of the journey in fact it's essential when I started Alibaba I failed many times I made so many mistakes that I lost count but I didn't give up I didn't let fear stop me from moving

forward and you shouldn't either if you keep your plans to yourself you eliminate the fear of judgment you allow yourself the freedom to experiment to fail to learn without the pressure of outside opinions and in doing so you give yourself the best chance of success here's the thing at the end of the day nobody cares about your plans they care about your results you can talk all day long about what you're going to do but if you don't deliver it's meaningless that's why I always say let success speak for itself when Alibaba became successful people

were shocked they couldn't believe that this small team of underdogs had built one of the largest e-commerce companies in the world but by then it was too late for them to criticize or doubt us the results spoke for themselves and that's the point I want to make today if you keep your plans to yourself you protect your vision you Shield it from negativity doubt and jealousy you give yourself the time and space to focus on what really matters execution when you finally achieve your goals people will see the results they won't need an explanation they

won't need to hear about all the plans you made they'll see the success with their own eyes and that's when you'll know you made the right decision by keeping quiet so my young friends as you embark on your Journeys remember this silence is your superpower don't waste time telling everyone your plans don't seek validation from people who don't understand your vision don't let fear drive your decisions instead Focus on the work let your actions speak louder than your words let your success surprise those who doubted you and most importantly trust yourself you have everything you

need to succeed you just need to stay focused stay quiet and keep pushing forward one day when you've achieved your dreams people will ask you how you did it and you'll smile because you'll know that the secret to your success was simple you kept your plans to yourself thank you [Music]