My sister-in-law once told me she likes her anger because it makes her more productive. I knew exactly what she meant. My biggest achievements in life have come after someone told me I’d never make it and I got hoppin’ mad. “Really? Watch me.“

Though my last name is Roberts, I don’t know of any relation to famed horse whisperer Monty Roberts. But when it comes to our reactions to naysayers, his mother and I are kindred spirits. In his autobiography, The Man Who Listens to Horses, Roberts shared the first time he voiced his life dreams.

A teacher had assigned his class of high school seniors to write a paper on their goals—no Hollywood fantasies allowed. The horse-trainer’s son wrote a serious plan for owning a Thoroughbred racehorse facility.

“I know your family and background,” the teacher told him. “It’s a wild, unattainable dream.” He instructed Roberts to rewrite the paper or risk a failing grade.

Follow your heart

When the teen related the incident to his mother, she was furious. If you think it’s unattainable, then change it, she told him. “But I don’t think it’s for a high school instructor to set a level on your hopes and dreams.”

The following day, Roberts returned the original paper with a note saying he believed in his goals and the teacher shouldn’t limit them. Roberts not only aced the course, he achieved his dream. And his teacher later admitted, the horse-trainer’s son who wouldn’t take no for an answer wound up teaching him the most valuable lesson he ever learned.