SELF IMPROVEMENT
How to Not Care About What Others Think
It wouldn’t be easy to break free of a lifetime of people-pleasing programming
The sunlight flickered through the blinds, casting stripes of light across my face. I grunted and pulled the covers over my head, blocking out the offensive brightness interrupting my sleep.
But it was too late, I was awake.
I fumbled for my phone and squinted at the screen. 8:07 am. Ugh.
The noise of the city was already filtering in through my thin apartment walls — honking horns, rumbling buses, and the shouts of impatient commuters bustling along the sidewalk below my window.
Just another manic Monday in the city that never sleeps.
I wanted nothing more than to burrow back under my blanket cocoon and ignore the nonstop hum of city life. But my mind was already buzzing with a cascade of thoughts demanding my attention — deadlines, to-do lists, worries about what my boss would think of my latest project.
I sighed and hauled myself out of bed, my brain racing a million miles a minute. I shuffled to the bathroom and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror — hair sticking out in all directions, dark circles under my eyes advertising my lack of…