How to Care Less About What Other People Think? What holds us back and stops us from climbing the heights is not the "fear of failure" but the "fear of criticism"

When we start caring too much about how other people think about us, we stop being innovative and creative. This is not something new. You must have heard this before or chances are that you yourself have been guilty of doing the same.

According to Seth Godin, the best-selling author, what holds us back and stops us from climbing the heights is not the "fear of failure" but the "fear of criticism".

If you are one of those who spend lives caring what other people think, you need to look no further than this post to be able to keep criticism at bay so as not to get affected by it.

1. Stop letting others getting you down.

Theodore Roosevelt quotes, "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood…who at the best knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly."

You must, therefore, get it straight that if a person criticising you isn't out in the "arena", there is absolutely nothing to worry. There is no need either to ignore them. It's simple. You may choose to hear them but what is important is that you do only what you want to do or what your original plan says. At least, you will never regret not listening to your heart or allowing others to lead you.

2. Embrace judgment in a healthy manner.

According to a famous entrepreneur and best-selling author, Seth Godin, life throws two choices at you in a given scenario: being criticized or being ignored.

It is for you to decide if you want to be criticized or ignored. By viewing feedback as a sign you did something noteworthy and not as a sign you did something wrong, you'll stop holding yourself back because of judgments made by others.

3. Overcome your fear of failure.

When someone criticises you, the reason you get hurt is because you fear failure. You don't trust yourself enough and therefore, you allow the harsh words spoken by others to stay top of your mind. The truth, however, is that no one can decide anything for you except yourself. By practicing mindset shifts, you can lead yourself on the path of transformation where you will find yourself in a position to achieve everything you'd set out to.

4. Get out of your head.

Those who have the tendency to overanalyze things tend to fall into the trap of second-guessing every word that gets spoken. Dr. Priyanka Kalra, a psychiatrist and Director at Global Child Wellness Center, suggests that a decision should be made to stop this immediately. According to her, it's no use giving away your energy on things that are not in your control. One of the brutal truths about life is that people will always judge you. But the more important thing to be learned is that people won't judge you anywhere close to you as much as your head would lead you to believe.

Some Final Words:

It is crucial to understand that paying too much attention to what others think of you can be debilitating. In order to help yourself overcome the tendency of worrying a lot about what others think, you have no choice but to do the above listed things so as to be more mindful in not getting stuck at any point of time in your life or career.