I live much of my life in public. I share my thoughts and opinions. I share my food photos. I share where I am, what I’m doing, and so much else.
This gives everyone and anyone the opportunity to form an opinion of who I am. For some, my perspective and style resonates, for others, maybe not.
Over the last several months, I’ve been lucky enough to meet some amazing, supportive, and loving people. These people will refer to themselves as my “fans,” and their appreciation for me, my writing, and my work is exceptionally validating, and incredibly meaningful to me.
At the same time, I’ve heard judgements come through the grapevine. There are people, some of whom “know me,” and some who only “know of me,” that have opinions about me. Some of these people do not like me, or my opinions. They may find me cocky, arrogant, egotistical, a phony, over-energetic and hyper…and a laundry list of other things, I’m sure.
I’d like to clear up a few things…
- I’m not in the business of pleasing everyone.
- I’m not in the business of being liked by everyone.
- I’m not (typically) in the business of changing who I am because of what someone else says.
- I’m not in the business of working with everyone.
- I’m certainly not in the business of being perfect.
I am…
- a human being, as flawed as anyone else.
- a person capable of independent thought, and therefore I have formed my own opinions that are unique from anyone else’s.
- an entrepreneur, great at some things, good at a few, and mediocre to awful at everything else. And I’m pretty up-front about what goes in each category.
- willing to believe in myself, and this confidence can sometimes appear to others as arrogance or cockiness.
- grateful for the life that I have, and I appreciate this on a daily basis.
It is because of all this, that I can be honest and open, and not worry about whether or not someone likes me, because I like me, and that’s honestly more than enough.
I just attempt to do the right thing, be honest about who I am and what I want to be in the world, and it then becomes anyone’s choice how to react to that.
Consider the Source
When someone has feedback, constructive or otherwise, I first consider the source.
If you KNOW me personally, have sat down to have a conversation with me, or have expressed an interest in my well-being and success, I will listen to every word you say. I give everything I’ve got in the tank for people that show me love. When I offend someone in my circle, I will do everything under the sun to set it right.
BUT…
For those that would stand on the sideline and criticize, or those that don’t give feedback built on a foundation that wishes success for me, I say to them a resounding “I don’t care what you think” and “don’t waste your breath.”
To Summarize
Unless someone is invested in my success, I don’t care about what they think. And my advice to you, is to do the same. You’d be surprised how much faster you can move without carrying all that dead weight around.