WHAT OTHERS THINK OF YOU
Here’s a thought: don’t waste your precious time giving one single crap about what anyone else thinks of you. Imagine how liberating that would be! We throw a wet blanket over our lives when we live in fear of what others might think instead of celebrating who we are.
Yes, it’s part of our survival instinct to care – get booted from the tribe and you’ll freeze to death or be eaten by wolves. But because we have big brains and the ability to manifest anything we set our minds to, there’s another version that’s equally plausible: get booted from the tribe and start, or find, another tribe that’s more your style.
You could not only wind up doing what you love surrounded by people you adore, but you might one day realise you can no longer remember the names of the people whose approval you thought you’d die without.
You’re responsible for what you say and do. You’re not responsible for whether or not people freak out about it. What other people think about you has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them.
The trick is to not only deny the criticism any power over you but, even more challenging, to not get caught up in the praise. There’s nothing wrong with blushingly accepting a compliment, but if you find yourself always seeking outside approval that you’re good enough or cool enough or talented enough or worthy enough, you’re screwed.
So how can you truly not care what other people think and be your most powerful self? 1 ASK YOURSELF, ‘WHY?’ Why are you about to say or do something? Is it to be liked? To put someone down because you feel insecure? To get someone back because they made a fat joke about your mother? Or is it coming from a place of strength and truth? Pay attention to your motivations (be honest). Practise coming from a place of integrity and you’ll be victorious.
2 ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST
There’s no better way to feel insecure than knowing you don’t really believe in what you’re doing. No matter what it is – raising your prices or raising your children – if you do the absolute best you possibly can, and come from a place of integrity, then you can be proud of yourself and not give a damn what anyone else thinks.
3 TRUST YOUR INTUITION
Birds use their intuition to navigate their way to breeding grounds halfway around the world. The average human will take the advice of their drunk-before-noon neighbour instead of doing what deep down we know is best.
How many times have you thought in hindsight, I knew I should have listened to my gut? You have an incredible inner guidance tool that you can use whenever you need it. Tell everyone to shut up. Give yourself room to feel and think. You have all the answers inside of you.
4 FIND A TEMPORARY ROLE MODEL
Find a role model. Get clear on why this person is inspiring to you, and when faced with a challenge that leaves you guessing, ask yourself, what would my hero do? Not caring what others think is a muscle that can take time to build up, so use this trick while you’re still getting strong – and before you know it you’ll be able to start asking yourself, what would I do?