I once read an interesting book called "The Coddling Of The American Mind", by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt.
It talked about the attempts to protect college students from anything that could hurt their feelings.
This includes blocking visits from speakers who hold opposing political viewpoints that could trigger them, and the influx of "safe spaces" on campus.
Safe spaces are places where students can go eat cookies, watch videos of puppies playing, and avoid anything that could upset them outside those four walls.
Things are so bad that some colleges gave students the day off after the 2016 US Presidential election if they didn't like the result, and they could play with Play-Doh and blow bubbles rather than go to class (I'm not making this up - that was actually offered at the University of Michigan).
The authors argue that while these things began innocently enough (as an attempt to protect peoples' feelings), they've created an environment where students are actually made more fragile by it.
The trend towards this safe space culture has led to much higher rates of teenager depression and suicidal behaviour, so it's not helping - kids need to develop resilience before they head out into the world on their own.
People don't like to feel bad. I get it.
But avoiding any feelings of discomfort won't make a person stronger, it actually does the opposite.
For example, take doing business online.
It's a big world with over 7 billion people - and roughly half of them have access to the Internet.
That means that billions of people have access to you with a few clicks of their keyboards.
You'll have to accept that If you're putting any message out there, you're going to get people disagreeing with you.
The solution isn't to hide away and avoid that.
If so, you aren't going to get any clients/customers and you won't be able to do it for long.
Better to put yourself and your message out there consistently and unapologetically.
You'll take some lumps, but you'll see more rewards than by hiding away.
Safe spaces aren't just bad for students, they're bad for online entrepreneurs too.
One place that isn't a safe space, but instead designed to push your limits, is my Coaching Jungle Mastermind.
We currently have openings, and you can apply to join us here:
Marc Mawhinney