How to Stop Caring What People Think

Have you ever lied about and odd hobby you have? Or maybe your job status or your height? Or even just avoided putting yourself in a situation in which you knew you were likely to fail? Why you did that? Short answer, because you were embarrassed. Embarrassment comes from trying to control how other ppl perceive you. So instead of just showin the world your nerdy hobby, say, that you collect beanie babies, you go “I don’t want people to think Im a dweeb,” and pretend that you don’t have one. The same process plays out with hobbies as it does with mistakes that we’ve made, areas in which we’re weak and areas in which we might get publicly rejected. We hide what we don’t want people to know about us. We conform to what other people would like us to be. But it doesn’t have to be the answer because there is another more empowering mindset. Instead of focusing on other people’s perceptions and feeling embarrassed about what they may think, focus on whether or not you live up to your own values. For instance, if you do have a killer beanie baby collection, you obviously value something about it, maybe it’s the nostalgia or maybe its just a quirk that started when your grandma gave you one twenty years ago. 

Either way, if you value your own opinions, you wont try to hide the collection no matter what anyone else thinks of it. Or maybe you have a crush that you’re thinking of asking out. Focusing on other people’s perceptions of you would stop you dead in your tracks. After all, what if other people found out and laughed at you for getting turned down? But what if you instead focused on your own values like doing the courageous thing or being honest even when its uncomfortable? You would ask that person out. Now maybe you’d go on a date, maybe you wouldn’t but either way, you’d have lied up to your own values and no matter what anyone else said or did, you could feel proud of yourself. The point is, that when you focus on living up to your own values, you never have to feel embarrassed again. It doesn’t matter whether you trip up an escalator, get fired from a job, beat up in a fight or blown off by a girl or a boy that you like, none of that stuff is pleasant but you don’t need the double penalty of being embarrassed by those things. Your attempts to live up to your values are all that matter, so take responsibility, try to correct course and move on. And If you have traits that embarrass you whether its your looks, your height, your age, well, you cant control those things and you cant live up to a value that you cant control. So even though you might not like something about yourself, own it. 

You will immediately feel relieved when you accept yourself the way you are. Now this isn’t an excuse to simply give up on improving yourself in the name of self-acceptance. Some things are worth a moment of embarrassment because they remind us that were not living up to our values. So in the case of maybe having fallen out of shape, a moment of embarrassment is worth it to get you back to a healthy lifestyle or a moment of embarrassment in saying your job title can be worth it if it inspires you to hustle to land your dream job. The point is to get clear on your values than live in in line with them. Let other people’s perception of you fade into the background noise. Now this doesn’t mean you ignore other people completely to the point of becoming a self-absorbed jerk. For instance, if one of your values is to be kind and you keep getting feedback that you’re hurting people’s feelings, you probably need to make an adjustment. But just remember there are 7 billion people with 7 billion different opinions and you cannot please them all. So when you take feedback from others, focus on doing the right thing rather than the thing that pleases everyone else. In short, stop trying to be okay by everyone. Stop trying to control the opinions of strangers. Instead, figure out your values and live by them. Be your unadulterated self all the time regardless of the audience. Make mistakes, fail publicly, get laughed at, you’ve got nothing to lose and as long as you’re trying to do the right thing, you’ve got no reason to ever feel bad about it. On your screw-ups, your weirdness, you’re unpopular actions, and you’re free.

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