There will always be people who will intimidate you to try to get you to do something—or not do something. It makes them feel important or better than you, and in most cases, it stems from their insecurity. I can’t tell you how many times I ask for something, and the other person is very dismissive or arrogant toward me. They are trying to show me up or control me.

• Social expectations. Don’t let other people intimidate you, and don’t try to live up to their expectations. People who have what you don’t, or are what you aren’t, might try to intimidate you. If you don’t have a college degree, people who have one might look down on you, and that’s a form of intimidation. Males in the workplace might try to intimidate females, or vice versa. People might put pressure on you to get married, divorced, or stay single. People will try to harass you if you’re doing a good job, and try to make you feel uncomfortable. You just need to get confident so you know what you’re doing, and don’t worry about people trying to put you down. Learn who you are so you don’t have to defend yourself or make excuses for who you are.
• Cultural expectations. Different cultures have different value systems and people might be tough on you because of where you come from, how you were brought up, or because they don’t understand what makes you think or do what you do. The danger is that you will believe them. You need to know who you are and learn to be comfortable with it.
• Don’t use intimidation as an excuse. Don’t be a victim. Don’t use this as a reason to justify your failure. Don’t use excuses—your life is exactly how you control it, and how you created it. Is it difficult? Is it going to go the way you planned? No!
  

Every one of you has been intimidated, or you will be intimidated—that’s the way it works. If you try to rise above others, they’re going to try to bring you down. People will intimidate you just because you’re there. You have a built-in excuse to stop trying, if you want it. Every one of these expectations could be your justification for your own failure.
Just know who you are and what you’re doing, and don’t allow people to put you down. Don’t be a “victim” and don’t allow intimidation to be a detractor from your success.

You can have every excuse you want to in the world. Look at me, I didn’t have a high school degree, I had a baby at a young age, I didn’t have any education, I had no support, I had no mentor, and eventually I had seven children! That takes a lot of time, taking care of the children, running the business, and doing everything else that I did. I still managed to accomplish what I did. I made no excuses. My life is the way it is because I focused, and I worked at it. It was not easy, but achieving your goal is a great sense of accomplishment. Don’t allow people to intimidate you, and don’t allow that excuse of intimidation to justify your failure.
—Mike Holt