Question №21
30 DAYS ~ 30 QUESTIONS
“Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.” — Lao Tzu
It is human nature to want to be liked and accepted. However, this often leads to excessive people-pleasing or worrying too much about what others think of you.
You cannot truly be your authentic self if you’re constantly asking yourself these questions:
What will people say?
What will others think?
Why doesn’t he/she like me?
Truth is, you can never really know what someone else thinks of you. So worrying about it is not going to help either. In fact it may have a negative effect on your life. Imagine your personality, your thoughts, your actions, all controlled by an unrealistic norm of what people want to see of you. When you become so concerned with other people’s opinion of you, you are likely to forget your own. It hampers your ability to be your true self when you’re masked behind a voice that is not yours.
Though this for some of us is easier said than done.
More realistically, I believe some opinions matter to us.
Like those of our parents, spouse, children or truly close friends. When at work our manager’s opinion and the team’s opinion can matter to us for optimal performance. People who we barely know, acquaintances, I would think would not matter so much. Ofcourse strangers, people who do not know us at all, but still have an opinion, which is disempowering or not constructive, would definitely not matter at all.
Don’t you think some people will disapprove of you, no matter what you say or do. They thrive on bringing others down. They judge everybody unfavorably, many a times because of their own insecurities and emotional baggage. These individuals (even if they are your relatives or family members) are not worth paying any attention to. Pray for them, wish them well and let them go.
Bottom line; some people will like you and some will not.
“If everyone likes you, most likely you are not saying much” — Donna Brazile.
Then there will be those who will admire you, encourage you, empower you and give you constructive feedback when you ask, or when they feel you can in some way be a better version of yourself. Try to find these people. Value them. They are your tribe.
Don’t worry if everyone likes you. What’s most important is;
Do you like you?
Read questions 1 to 20 here:
For more follow me @Tasneem Kagalwalla on FB, Twitter and Instagram
