Some Pray for You, Some Prey on You: Why You Shouldn't Share Your Goals with Everyone

Not everyone clapping for you is on your team. Some people will pray for your success, while others will prey on your dreams—and sometimes, it’s the people closest to you. In this episode, I’m breaking down why you need to be careful about who you share your goals with, how to spot the difference between true supporters and hidden doubters, and why protecting your vision is crucial in 2025.

I’ve made the mistake of trusting the wrong people more times than I can count, but I’ve learned some hard lessons along the way. Whether it’s fake friends, unsupportive family, or people secretly hoping you fail, this episode is all about recognizing the signs and keeping your circle tight.

Drop a comment below: Have you ever had someone prey on your goals? How did you handle it? Let’s talk about it.

Chapters

• 0:00 Navigating Relationships
• 6:25 Business Idea Betrayal Concerns

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome back to the Seth Sedditt Show. I am your host, seth Mills, and in today's episode, we're going to be talking about how some people will prey on you and some people will prey on you, hey guys. So what I want to get into in today's episode is that some people will prey for your success, while others are going to be wanting to prey on your dreams, and the scariest part about it is that sometimes you don't know the difference until it's too late. Sometimes you won't see it. Sometimes people will act like your friend, act like a mentor even and I'll get into that as well and sometimes it's not even acting. Sometimes it's just these people don't know what they're doing or they do and they don't think ahead, right? So I'll be getting into that here in a little bit, and I'm not going to be sharing names, not going to be sharing company names. However, I do and I will say, if you are listening to this, you know who you are and I'm not trying to spread drama. I'm just simply trying to use this personal story for this podcast as a way to for this podcast, as a way to make other people aware of the differences, right? So today we are going to be diving into why you need to protect your goals, and even how the people closest to you, like friends and family, may not always have your best interests at heart. And don't fault them, right? Some people they just they don't know what they're doing and they don't realize how it's damaging the mindset of people, right? So what it means to pray on you is some people are genuinely praying for your success, whether literally or figuratively, whether they're actually praying to God at night that you succeed, or whether they're just wanting to support you. These are the people who are going to want the best for you, the people who root for you and the people who genuinely care about seeing you succeed, the people that want to see you, in five years, become the person that you want to be. They'll encourage you, they'll hold you accountable and they'll even celebrate your wins like they're their own right. So these people are going to be the people who want to see you succeed. They want to see you thrive in your goals and they also want to see that you are pushing yourself. When we talk about people preying on you, these are the ones who smile to your face. They secretly hope you fail. They're the ones who get jealous and talk behind your back or even try to sabotage you, right? Whether they realize it or not, it could be insecurities, it could be people who just don't see the big picture, and it could be the people in your life that are closest to you, that you share your goals with, and they get, like I said, jealous and they want to take those goals from you. Sometimes they're driven by insecurity, jealousy or even their own fear of being left behind if you succeed. So they see you succeeding and they're like no, I don't want to be left out, right. And so with this, I will go into my personal story, and this is going to be when somebody prayed on me.

Speaker 1: 3:09

I got into the industry that I am in the pressure washing and exterior cleaning industry and I didn't really know what I was doing. That's with any industry, right. If you get into an industry and you don't know what you're doing, you're going to look for people who will help you, and some of these people that are going to help you are also going to end up hurting you in the long term, right? So I started in the industry and I met a guy and it was fairly new. It was fairly quick whenever I got into the industry because I had a lot of different things going for me as far as a lot of different quotes coming in and I didn't know how to estimate them. I didn't know the pricing. When you first get into an industry, you're not going to know these things. You're going to need to adapt and learn right. So at the time I didn't see it for what it was. But looking back it's clear that they weren't necessarily rooting for me and they may not have been rooting against me, but that's just how it feels after looking back on the events that happened. So I met this guy and he helped me with my pricing. He helped me quote a fairly large commercial bid and they were not expecting the estimate to be that high. They were wanting pennies on the dollar, that kind of estimate. And so all of this happened.

Speaker 1: 4:35

And then, fast forward, a year after he had started helping me, we did a lot of work together or subcontracting. I would subcontract things to him. He'd help me out. He would help me out, right, I'd call him and he'd be my go-to person to ask questions. And so fast forward a year and a half.

Speaker 1: 4:53

I had this idea. In the pressure washing industry there are pressure washing supply stores and they supply us with their chemicals. They build trailers, they build skids for the bed of trucks. You're not going to be using like a Home Depot pressure washer when you're in this industry not for a while anyway. You might use one just to get into it and be like oh, this is something I want to do. And that's what I did. I pressure washed a driveway and I'm like this sucks, so I'm sure people will pay people to do this for them.

Speaker 1: 5:23

And so we, like I said, fast forward a year. I went and I told him hey, look, I think that I would like to open up a pressure washing supply store. You're in a better position than me. Like I'd love to open it with you. Is this something you're interested in? And right off the bat he said no, I really don't want to go into business against the supplier that we use. And I was like no, that's totally understandable, and it wasn't that I was looking for a handout. Like no, I was going to invest my own money in it. I was going to invest everything into it. I just needed the. I guess I needed the knowledge.

Speaker 1: 6:02

He had been in the industry a few years, or at least I believe, a year or two longer than I had. So he already had a lot of stuff down, pat contacts, and then I started getting my own contacts afterward. But I asked him if he'd want to do it. He said no, I don't want to go into business against this other company. And then I dropped it and I started looking elsewhere.

Speaker 1: 6:25

But then I guess I'd say a year and a half after we had that conversation and again, things happen, right, people change their minds but it just feels like he was preying on me because it was my idea that I brought up to him and he may have had that idea before and just not said anything about it, but it just felt that way. And so a year and a half later, after he says no, a new pressure washing store opens up in my area and it's yours truly running it. So it felt like he took my idea and ran with it a little bit and he was in a partnership with another company and a very close friend of mine, a very close business friend of mine. We don't hang out much outside of work but we do a lot of work or did a lot of work together. But everybody goes their own ways, right. However, I just felt as though this was kind of target right, because it was my idea. I brought it to him. He said no. Then he ultimately opened up a pressure washing store, not even a BB's distance from the store. He said no. Then he ultimately opened up a pressure washing store, not even a BB's distance from the store. He said he didn't want to compete with. I mean, we're talking if it's a straight shot, you could throw a water balloon almost Not really but you could shoot like an airsoft gun BB and hit the other store. So it's a tough lesson that I had to learn here, but it showed me that not everybody is clapping for you, or not everybody clapping for you is on your team, right. So, with that in mind, you also have occasionally a close friend that might secretly envy your ambition or success and they'll say things like and this could be family too. Are you sure that's a good idea? Or I wouldn't do that if I were you. And it's not because they care, it's because they're projecting their own fears onto you. It's because they see you taking a risk that they would not take and they are fearful for themselves, like if they were to take the risk. It's not necessarily that they care right and, like I said, family can do it too. Even with good intentions, they can sometimes be dream killers. They might think that they're protecting you, but in reality, their doubts can plant seeds of self-doubt in your mind and it can just have you go down a spiral right. And so this doesn't mean cutting family off, but it means setting boundaries, because boundaries are not a bad thing, and so when we talk about people who pray on you and people who pray on you the people who will pray on you and wish your success comes down to you they listen and they encourage you, and normally this is or not, normally this is without judgment. They also offer constructive advice. They don't criticize you rooted in negativity. They will criticize you in a positive way, say hey, what about this? And they'll get the conversation started to start talking about things that you can do better. They're not trying to bring negativity to you, and they'll also celebrate your wins without having jealousy or comparing their life to your life. Then you have the people again who will prey on you and try and sabotage you. Potentially. They're the ones that are constantly doubting your goals or making you feel like you're aiming too high, and let me tell you this as an entrepreneur, you can never aim too high. Always aim beyond your goals. I have goals that I know are extremely far-fetched for me to reach, but they are still goals nonetheless that I am trying to aim at. And so aim high. These people will also compete with you instead of supporting you, and I'm not talking about industry competitors Half the competitors of mine in my industry, in my area we're very close friends. Hell, I sub a lot of work to one of my biggest competitors, and by sub. If you don't know what sub means, I give work to him and I put a markup on it. These people are also quick to gossip about your plans to other people or downplay your success. So if they're talking about you behind your back and saying, oh, this person's not going to succeed, this person doesn't know what he's doing, all this, they're just downplaying your success. And so pay attention to how you feel after you're sharing your dreams with somebody, or your goals or your ambitions. Do you feel inspired or do you feel like you're drained? Your intuition is often right. I cannot make this any more clear, I cannot. And so, in the early stages, your goals like mine. They're like and to put this into like a nature term they're like seedlings they need to be nurtured and they need to be protected and they can't necessarily be exposed to negativity and doubt. So you have to be careful with who you're sharing your goals with, because if you share them with the wrong people, like I said, you can lead to self-doubt, fear or even abandoning the goal altogether. If there's so many people in your life telling you you cannot do it, chances are you're going to abandon the goal. So be careful who you're sharing your goals with. If you share them with anybody, truthfully write them on a piece of paper, stick them in your desk, put them on your wall, put them by your nightstand, I don't care. Keep them protected. Only share them with the people who uplift you and not the people who secretly hope you fail. Again, I made this mistake with the pressure washing store. And just remember you don't owe anyone an explanation for your dreams. You don't owe anybody an explanation on what your dreams are or why your dreams are what they are. It's 2025. You got to protect your vision, you got to protect your goals and you got to protect your ambitions. Some people will pray for your success, but others will pray on it, and it's up to you to know the difference. You have to figure out which way to go individuals are leaning. You can't let fear or doubt from others hold you back. You have to stay focused. You have to keep your circle tight, like we talked about in this previous episode, and you also have to remember the only validation you need is your own belief in yourself. That's all you need. If you believe it, you can achieve it. I'm a firm believer on this. I don't know where you're listening from. If you're listening on Apple Podcasts or a major podcast platform, have you ever had your goals preyed on by somebody? Has anybody ever tried to interrupt your goals or get in between you and your goals, and how did you handle it right? Drop your story in the comments. If you're on YouTube, if you're listening from a major platform, just think about it. I really would love to hear how you dealt with this. And if you're on YouTube, please subscribe for more real and relatable content. If you're on Apple Podcasts or a major platform, please turn on automatic downloads. It greatly helps me get in front of more viewers, it helps me get more exposure and it helps us push this platform a little bit bigger on each episode. In the event that you guys are listening and you guys love what I say, please go ahead and do that. I will see you guys in the next episode next Thursday. I believe that I'm gonna start releasing these around 6 am in the morning, just because sometimes podcast platforms take a little bit of time, a few hours, to actually release. So if you see that it's released and you don't see an announcement until give or take 9 or 10 in the morning, then that is why. But still go ahead and listen to the previous episode, because it ties well into this episode and I will see you guys next week. Thanks for listening.