Personal Supporters

Support from those around us is a gift. It’s a gift when we have it. It’s a gift if we have it. The paradox of personal support from others is people will generally cheer for you until you surpass them. When they see you as below them, their cheers will be loud. As you increase your ability, skills, and standing, their cheers will start to soften because they will now feel threatened by you. Hate is a requisite for success. If you have no “haters,” you probably suffer from a lack of success. As you find success, where you find support will undoubtedly change.

The easiest representation of this paradox is in the realm of sports. Fans love an underdog story. In March Madness, fans always enjoy rooting for the Cinderella team to make it deep into the tournament. They want the underdog to win against the blue chip programs that win on a frequent basis. In football, when the New England Patriots won their first Super Bowl, it was easy to support Tom Brady because he was selected in the 6th round of the NFL draft and no one expected him to be successful. Fast forward 20 years later and people were actively rooting against the Patriots because they won 6 Super Bowls. Haters emerged because of their success.

On a personal level, imagine you are hired to work at a corporate company. You begin working in an entry-level position. When you first start, your manager and the employees around you are happy to give you advice and show you how things should operate. You are clearly below them on the company hierarchy. Fast forward a couple of years and you have been promoted. You now lead a team and report to a singular vice president. The only option for your individual career to progress is you replace your current vice president or leave the company and accept a higher position elsewhere. Putting yourself in the vice president’s shoes, where they once would have given you all of the advice in the world, they are most likely going to be more reserved with what they share because they understand you are a threat to their career.

Sports and the corporate world have been the two examples used but with any friendship, you will see the same phenomenon. As you become more successful, the people who supported you along the way will find more things to hate about you, because of jealousy. Success is success to a point, then you will find your relationships changing. People want you to succeed to a point. A point that is not better than them. The people who stick with you regardless of the differences in success are the people who belong in your life because not everyone will.