It’s beneficial to have opinions from a few people you can trust to tell you if you’re doing something bat-crap crazy, or to encourage you to take a risk. Thankfully, I have a spouse who doesn’t hesitate to keep me in check or nudge me forward and a mom who will always tell me, point blank, if I’m not thinking clearly.

Concerned for Other’s Opinions

But what about other people’s opinions? What about those who spew hate and venom your direction for no reason? Or what about people you go to school with, work with, or otherwise have to tolerate because you encounter them frequently?

Allowing Ingress of Other’s Opinions

For a good chunk of my life, I valued the opinions of others too much. Unfortunately, I allowed a lot of opportunities to pass me by, simply because I cared too much about what other people would think or say. I would often not be true to myself, or do the things that would make me happy, out of fear of how other people might react.

Don’t Psych Yourself

Don’t try to psych yourself up to the point where you simply don’t care enough to let criticism affect you. This strategy is wrong and dangerous. A much better approach is to care deeply about who you are and what you are creating. Follow your passion and your inspiration. Go where you are called, and create what is inside you. Care so much for others that you don’t care what they think. The greatest achievements the world has ever seen were started by individuals who marched to the beat of a different drummer. As you set out to change the world, just make sure your drum is loud enough drown out all the critics.

Just a Defense

If we stop caring what other people think and stop caring what other people think of us, we are meeting a distancing behavior (which is what disapproval is) with another distancing behavior. We separate ourselves from each other by not caring what each other thinks. We also deprive ourselves of the opportunity to see things from another perspective and we also deprive ourselves of the opportunity to see ourselves in a different light. Self-awareness will be much more difficult if we stop caring what other people think. So I think we should care what every person thinks and feels in our reality. We should not be belligerent or defiant to what other people think. That is just defense.

Of course, we should have some concern about our image, what we do and what people think of us, especially if we want to be sociable and get along. However, there have been times when I’ve carried this too far and worried incessantly. People are going to think what they are going to think and it’s more their problem than yours unless you make it your problem. However, if it is a friend or family member, or someone else close to you, then it’s probably a good idea to ask what’s on his or her mind. Information can help us learn and grow, but when our imagination is left unchecked, it can lead to serious stress and unhappiness.

Versuasion Pakistan – Fareeha Robert