16/07/2025
Caring what people think about you? Being overly self-conscious? I want you to read this.
You are the most important person in the world: First, realize you are the most important person in the world. If you don’t believe me, remember the last time you felt intense pain. Perhaps, it was toothache or surgery, or maybe, you broke your leg in an accident. What were you thinking back then? Were you concerned about the famine in Africa? Did you worry about innocent people being killed in wars in the Middle East? The only thing you wanted is for the pain to go away. This is because you are the most important person in the world. Since you must live with yourself 24/7, it is normal to be concerned about your own mental and physical well-being. Because you live with yourself 24/7, you incorrectly assume, often unconsciously that people think about you significantly more often than they actually do. Breaking News? People do not care about you. While it may sound depressing, it’s actually liberating. It means you don’t have to worry so much about what people think about you.
As the famous saying goes: “When you’re twenty, you care what everyone thinks, when you’re forty, you stop caring what everyone thinks, and when you’re sixty, you realize no one was ever thinking about you in the first place.”
While you keep track of all your mistakes and awkward moments, nobody else does. People are simply too busy worry about themselves. In short, people don’t:
1. Keep track of your past failures.
2. Read everything you post on social media.
3. Remember your awkward moments.
4. Think of you (very often), or
5. Care about you as much as you care about yourself.
Not everyone will love you: You care what other people think of you because you want them to approve you. You assume the best way to do this is to avoid making waves. As a result, you may spend your whole life trying to be the perfect person, hoping to be loved. However, it doesn’t work, no matter how great you are, some people won’t like you. You may try to ‘fix’ the image people have of you, but that won’t work either. People will still see you the way they want to, because of their own values and beliefs.
Thus, if you base your self-worth on what people think of you, you’ll always be at the mercy of the approval of others. What will happen if they suddenly disapprove of you? Unfortunately, no amount of external approval will compensate for a lack of self-approval. By trying so hard to be loved by everybody, you risk living a dull life in which you’re unable to express your personality. You’ll end up mimicking your friends, pleasing everybody around you, but forgetting to please the most important person in the world- YOU.
What people think of you is none of your business: You’re not responsible for people’s thoughts. In fact, what people think of you is none of your business. Your job is to express your personality the best way you can, while having the purest intent possible. In short, your responsibility is to do your best to be your true self. Then, people may or may not like you, and either way is fine. Remember, the most influential people such as presidents and statesmen and women are often hated by millions.
Therefore, don’t make it your personal mission to change people’s image of you. People are entitled to their beliefs and values, and they have the right to dislike you. They are free to interpret your actions and behaviors through their own filter. Part of your personal growth is to accept you don’t have to be liked by everybody, and finally, you can be yourself.
Leave people to their opinions of you and focus on yourself.
