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6 Masterful Ways to Stop Caring About What People Think
How to ignore negative external influences
Social pressure is a constant thorn in our flesh.
We want to launch that next project but worry about our social circle’s opinions. In that same vein, we try to build new habits but struggle to convince our peers.
In simple terms, we care about what other people think. And this concentration on external factors prevents us from taking our lives to the next level.
That’s why we need a healthy ignorance of other people’s opinions.
Of course, we can’t block out legitimate doubts and constructive criticism, but we need to avoid a situation where these external influences create paralysis.
On this basis, here are six masterful ways to stop caring about what people think.
Committing to goals and plans
The first step toward becoming less reliant on other people’s opinions is to have clear-cut goals in life.
When we trundle through our careers and personal lives without well-defined roadmaps, we become more prone to external pressure.
If you are, for example, stuck in a dead-end job without serious growth prospects, you start to become jealous of other people’s lives.
That guy travels full-time, and his girlfriend has an online art store. Why can’t my life be this interesting?
The antidote is to start setting your own goals. You won’t change your life overnight, but once you start caring about a personal endeavor, you’ll have fewer reasons to envy other people’s projects.
Ignoring temporary trends
Another way to become more resilient against naysayers and harmful influences is to stop following trends that won’t last.
When I went to high school in the late 2000s, Superdry sweaters were all the rage in Europe. Everybody from 12-year-old-girls to senior football players wore them. If you didn’t have one, you looked out of place at any high school party.
They were nothing special, except for their price tag. My parents didn’t want to buy me one.
