Care about what others think? Of course you do. We all do. What others say about us can really get to us and sometimes can even change the way we live our lives.
This is why so many people are not successful. Sorry, but it’s the plain truth. Welcome to the class of the unsuccessfuls!
See, you can only be the very best if you learn to think for yourself. If you’re the kind of person who is easily persuaded by the opinions of others, you’re going to have a hard time being successful. Learning to ignore what others are saying about you is the first step to being successful. You need to be strong and resolute, and you need to believe in yourself and your convictions.
Let’s take a look at 10 reasons why you are more likely to be successful if you care less about what others think about you.
1. Your Determination Overrides Other Peoples’ Opinions
Successful people are those who have a clear goal, and who stick to the path which will lead them towards it. They are not the kind of people who are taken off their path and sent up another route, simply because someone else told them this new path is better.
You know: “Psst. Hey you! Come over here. I’ve found a new path, which is so much better. Wanna come?”
“But why’s it so dark? And what’s with all the thorns and why can I hear bats?”
“Don’t worry about a thing. Everything will bejust fine.”
No, it won’t be fine. You’ll get lost. And your new goal will be getting the heck off this path.
2. People’s Opinions Always Change
People who have opinions about you and what you should do are likely to change these opinions often. For this reason, you simply can’t get taken in by them. Don’t listen to them today, because what they have to say tomorrow could be totally different. Instead, be your own boss and stick to your own principles and convictions. It’s the only way that you can be sure of success.
3. Your Goals, Your Decisions
Thomas Edison could have given up when he was told that he was too dumb to do anything of note. The Hurricane could have given up when he was sentenced to life for what he insisted was wrongful arrest. These people didn’t listen to others; they knew that it was their goals, and thus they and to take control of matters. They couldn’t afford to listen to others. Listening to others would have sent Thomas Edison into a menial job, and it would have meant The Hurricane was never released. But they fought because they they were determined to succeed and believed in themselves.
4. Success Takes Consistency
To be successful, you must be consistent with your goals, opinions and convictions. You can’t change your mind each day. This will only lead to setbacks. If you listened to others’ opinions of you, you would invariably change your mind each day and would consequently get no where. To be successful, you need to stay on track – and you need to ignore others’.
5. Other People Don’t Know What Is Best For You
And not only do they not know what is best for you, but they don’t care. They certainly don’t care about your success as much as you do. If someone always has something to say about you and your direction in life, it could be that they’re jealous. For this reason alone, their opinions are clouded and are thus not worth listening to you. Anyone who constantly contradicts what you are doing doesn’t have your best interests at heart. Rather than indulge them, tell them you aren’t interested.
6. Successful People Don’t Need Other People’s Approval
Before Bill Gates released Microsoft do you really think he went up to his buddy one morning and asked, “do you think I should actually do this, bud? I mean, I thought I was so sure about this last night but then I woke up this morning and it hit me, man. It hit me that today is the day. So I don’t know anymore. What do you think? Whatever you say, I’ll do.”
Successful people like Bill Gates don’t require the seal of approval from someone else. They know what they want, and they know how to get it.
7. Successful People Love What They Do
If you love what you do and are sure it will bring you success, why would you let someone tell you not to do it? That just sounds crazy to us! We are what we love, which is much better than being what we hate. That doesn’t sound like no kinda fun. So, to be successful, you must remember to put your own pleasures first and not listen to others who tell you that you’ve gotta do something boring and miserable to get anything out of life.
After all, if Picasso had got a 9-5 job like his dad, how much would that suck?
8. Successful People Can’t Please Everyone
Imagine if, on your road to success, you tried to please everyone you know? Imagine trying to live up to each and every persons expectation? This will mean that you run out of time, and it will invariably mean that you will end up burned-out, exhausted – and a failure. But because you can’t please everyone, there is little point in trying to please anyone. The only person that needs pleasing here is yourself. So please him/her!
9. Successful People Don’t Reap What Others Sow
If you listen to other people, you’ll end up reaping what they have sown, rather than what you have sown. In other words, you might end up reaping something truly awful and then feeling miserable afterwards. Sadly, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.
By sticking to your own convictions, you can at least be sure that you’ll be in control of your own destiny.
10. Successful People Are Free
If you care too much about what other people think of you, you will end up their prisoner. In a nutshell, those are the words of Lao Tzu, an ancient Chinese philosopher.
And who in the heck wants to be someone’s prisoner?
His words still ring true today. The truth is that if you want to be a success, you need to enjoy freedom. You need freedom to do what you want to do, and to express yourself in the way that you want to express yourself. If someone tells you to “be less imaginative,” this could curtail your real skills and talents. You could end up being so unimaginative that you totally fail. But you deserve success! So be free to be yourself!
Stay happy!
