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Ignite Blog #1 | Opinions

Writer's picture: Anne HughesAnne Hughes

Updated: Jan 27




Opinions Only Have the Power We Give Them!

 

I was invited onto BBC Radio Scotland Mornings Programme first thing this morning to talk about someone I’m now mad has inspired my first blog of 2025!


The call in show was all about the ramblings of the guy who owns Tesla and threw $44biliion away on purchasing Twitter and chasing most of us away from the social media platform. As I said to Kaye Adams this morning – I’m raging that we’re giving this guy so many column inches and airtime minutes! However, the whole thing has inspired me too…

 

The truth is, people are always going to give us their opinions on everything from the way we looked at them, to the clothes we wear, the jobs we do, the people we like and the way we view the world.

 

Opinions are everywhere! But that doesn’t render us powerless – far from it.

 

If you’ve ever read Brene Brown, you’ll have heard about what she calls her ‘Square Squad’. It’s a list of people whose opinions will count for us. She calls it her square squad as she recommends getting an inch square piece of paper to aid keeping the list small. You add these names to it and keep it somewhere you’ll see it often so you keep remembering that everyone doesn’t get to have a say on what you’re doing, where you’re heading and how you plan to get there.

 

The rationale used by Brown is that if we make the list too big, we’ll never do anything, and if we have no list at all, well – we might just mess up in some areas of our lives.

 

Adopting this way of thinking a good few years ago has undoubtedly served me. I fully recognise that sometimes I need reigned in. That sometimes it probably wouldn’t be helpful to say what I think, and that sometimes I should just bow out and leave the situation to others more invested and with more wisdom in it than me.

 

Allowing everyone who thinks they should have an opinion on what I say, do or think – well that’s never happening. Equally, the praise of people not in my inner circle isn’t taken particularly seriously either. If I give away the power to praise me, I give away the power to tear me down. Neither are up for sale and that undoubtedly makes me feel more confident in the world.

 

The fun part of the Square Squad is that most of the time when I realise I need to consult my people, I mostly already know what they’ll say, so the consultation is one made in silence with a nodding head and knowing smile. Taking their wisdom on my journey with me means I’m quicker to the resolution or knowing about what I should do next.

 

So back to the ‘billionaire businessman’. His opinions on British politics and life is as far as I can see are meaningless. He has no business in our business, and we need to stop giving him air. And as for his role in USA Government – as I told Kaye I’m willing to bet my house on him being on Trump’s hate list before the year is out. (not really betting my house obvs)

 

I urge us all to kick off 2025 by contemplating what the opinions of others means to us. And I really urge us to know for sure that not every opinion that’s shared should matter.


Listen to what I had to say on BBC Radio Scotland here, https://www.mixcloud.com/AnneHughesIgnite/anne-hughes-on-bbc-radio-scotland-6jan25/

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