I have a question for you — how much time do you think guys like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Joe Rogan spend worrying about what others think of them? They don’t give a flip what you think or what I think because they are too focused on doing what they need to do to move their lives, businesses, careers, and agendas forward. I find this incredibly inspiring.
The truth is, gentlemen, we have only so much capacity (aka mental bandwidth) to care, and if you are spending a portion of your time worrying about what other people think about you, you’re not using that portion of time to dominate life. I use these tricks and tips to help me stop caring what other people think about me, which have facilitated my personal growth and development.
Dominate life by redirecting your priorities
- Surround yourself with better people — a tribe is essentially like-minded people or moving in the same direction. Tap into your tribe. When I did at the MENfluential Conference with Antonio Centeno, I became surrounded by like-minded entrepreneurs. Suddenly, the negative feedback sent out by small-minded people didn’t matter to me anymore because my tribe motivated me and lifted me up.
- Be more careful about who you ask for feedback or advice — if you ask your boring and basic friends about your sexy style aspirations, they may laugh and/or poke fun at you. But if you go to your like-minded style friends, the feedback you receive will be drastically different. The same goes for if you’re an aspiring entrepreneur looking for business advice. Those who work 9-to-5 and have never taken a risk in their life and/or those on social media may give you a ton of feedback ranging from good to bad to horrible. The Skillshare class “Do Things, Tell People. The Power of Personal Branding” helped me tremendously with not worrying so much about what other people think of me. I recommend taking this course immediately.
- Define your values and then align your life accordingly (aka your personal value proposition) — your personal value proposition is essential to determine what matters most to you and then align your life accordingly, including your friends, career, and family. Don’t say you want success but then party every weekend; don’t say you want a healthy relationship but then watch porn. When you align your values with your lifestyle, you start to feel better, and you don’t have negative thoughts or feelings.
- Own your flaws — we all have flaws, and we shouldn’t run from them. Embrace them now, make an effort to improve them, and ultimately fix them. Don’t try to act like you’re perfect. Also, talk about your insecurities and show your vulnerabilities with people. The result is very liberating. We spend so much time and energy creating a facade that ‘everything’s good’ or ‘everything’s fine.’ We try to be stoic and put up a wall. Instead, admit your issues and let your guard down, which is next level in terms of feeling good about yourself. People will also connect with you more, resulting in deeper relationships.
- Forgive yourself for your past failures and mess-ups — we spend a lot of time and energy harboring angst and anxiety, especially regarding things we can’t change. When you finally forgive yourself for not being perfect, life gets better.
- Consider the worst-case scenario — will you be okay if the worst-case scenario happens? If yes, then do it! People that don’t try for something better don’t fail because they’re safe and comfortable. If you’re someone that genuinely wants to experience the most that life has to offer, you have to be willing to be uncomfortable. Be ready to step outside of your box. And if you’re not failing, you’re not trying, you’re not going for it, and your dreams aren’t big enough.
