A friend of mine at work was talking about starting his own company. Understand, I work at an old, conservative, very corporate company. He mentioned this idea, this risky play, which could end up making him a ton of money.
This other girl heard him talking about it and said "Why would you want to do that? You've got a good, safe job here where you could be really successful."
His reply was fantastic.He said, "You can't expect to follow the same route as loads of other mediocre people and expect to be wildly successful. It's just not going to happen. You have to cut your own path."
Cutting your own path is always going be harder than following one that already exists. People will question you, wonder why you're bothering, and convince you to do otherwise. You have to ignore those people. That path is a path to mediocrity - a plain of sheep where it is impossible to stand out from the flock. It's easier, more comfortable, and much less rewarding than cutting your own path through the forest and seeing where you end up.