How much of your precious time do you spend worrying about what others think about you and the way you live your life?
I often wonder why some people spend their time trying to impress other people, or try and keep up an image that they’ve got lots of people in their life who love them? If you give too much energy to this, it could end up being a source of anxiety and stress.
I always like to have the opinions of those who have my best interests at heart, but trying to keep everyone happy so they like me is just pointless and exhausting, not to mention bad for my mental well-being.
I’m not saying that you shouldn’t care what people think of you, of course, you wouldn’t do something that would upset your loved ones on purpose, but trying to please or impress people with your every action is just crazy.
Caring what other people think is a type of anxiety that can be avoided if we stop caring about what doesn’t matter. Caring so much about our ‘image’, and feeling a need to be ‘liked’ will ultimately leave us miserable.
If you want to stop caring about what other think of you, you need to understand first that their opinion of you is only that — an opinion. It does not mean that the rest of the world does not like you. Part of being a human being is having opinions. People’s opinions are not facts, their opinions don’t need to be worried over. Of course, none of us enjoys being disliked, but to try and relentlessly change someone’s opinion of you is just a waste of time.
If you care about what other people think too much, maybe you haven’t taken the time to get to know yourself well enough, so it makes you value other people’s opinion waaaay more than your own. You base your every move on what other people will think. I learnt a long time ago that chasing external compliments is hazardous to your mental well-being. If you don’t start complimenting yourself, without the need for an opinion from someone else, I don’t think you can ever be truly content.
Being true to yourself means understanding why you care so much about what other people think, and then, doing what you want to do anyway. I truly believe one of the keys to happiness is to not need approval or validation from others.
* The author is a Life & Business coach. Instagram handle: @miss_shefa, Website: missshefa.com
Being true to yourself means understanding why you care so much about what other people think, and then, doing what you want to do anyway. I truly believe one of the keys to happiness is to not need approval or validation from others.
