Small Town Vs Big City Mentality

Stop Caring What Anyone Thinks

I was out in Las Vegas for a Snap Fitness Convention this past week and today when I got home I was thinking of something I always catch myself thinking about when I get back from big cities: Just be yourself. What do I mean though?

When you’re in a big city (like Vegas), you see every walk of life there is: bums digging in trash cans, 3 foot tall spray-painted Mohawks, girls with nothing on but a thong & booby tassels (at 10am, I might add), businessmen walking in suits, every type of individual you can imagine & then some. (I’m a professional people watcher).

In my hometown of St. Joseph, there are about 80,000 people and if you can make sense of this, it’s the a big small town. What I mean by that is that everyone knows what everyone’s doing & people are in your business.

In St. Joe if you’re having a private conversation on the phone in public, you will probably keep it down because you’ll know somebody around you.

In St. Joe, you may want to wear an outfit that is unique and cool in your head, but most won’t because it is different and they care what people are going to think and say about it — they don’t want to be ‘weird’.

In St. Joe when you want to start a business, blog, whatever it is, there are people at every turn to shoot you down or laugh. And instead of just doing what they want, and going after their goals, people think of how everyone will respond: “Oh my god, what will so and so think?”

But in Vegas and every big city I’ve been to, people just straight up don’t give a damn what people think. They don’t care about your opinion of how they look, what they’re doing, what they’re saying, anything. Whether you like what they’re doing or not, they’re going to keep doing it…’right’ or ‘wrong’.

I always come back from trips super motivated by all the success and opportunity in the air that I was surrounded by in the big cities. Then I arrive in St. Joe and have the same realization every time: how much people care what others think, and how I still catch myself somewhat caring a little bit of what people think sometimes & I hate it. I’m done with it.

Out there, no one cares if you become a billionaire CEO or if you’re a bum on the street. People don’t turn their head for a double take, or hell, even look at you the first time you walk by. And it’s not just because they don’t know you, it’s because they’re not worried about you.

I’m not saying to become a selfish douchebag; but start worrying about your own life and where you are headed, and stop caring what anyone else thinks — become selfish in that sense. The truth is, whether you succeed at what you attempt or not, there are still going to be people talking shit about you. So have extremely thick skin and you do you, nobody else.

Look at the most successful people in the world and you’ll see that thick skin is a quality they all carry. I can guarantee that not caring what anyone thinks will be one of the best choices you ever make.

I hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading!

Feel free to reach out to me on twitter: @austin_evans3

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