Do not build a prison for yourself with bars from other people’s opinions.
Don’t let other people's opinions control or manipulate you into doing things that you do not want to do.
When you're walking through life, feeling pretty good about everything, have you ever felt like the walls around you are suddenly closing in? You feel trapped! But these walls are not made of concrete or steel bars. Nope. They're built from the opinions of other people. Each brick, each bar, comes from someone’s unsolicited advice, offhand comment, or someone's eye-roll that seems to imply you are doing it wrong.
And just like that, you've let someone else design your personal prison -- the worst prison ever because you can’t even eat your lunch without thinking, “Will someone be judging me for having Alfredo pasta instead of a nice, green salad . . . without dressing?"
The world is full of people who will be more than happy to tell you what you should do, how you should live, and even what you should eat. But their opinions don’t matter.
You are not required to set yourself on fire to keep others warm.
You don’t get a medal for living your life according to someone else’s expectations. In fact, all you get is a first-class ticket to Regretville, where you can spend your golden years saying things like, “I wish I had gone skydiving instead of listening to Uncle Bob’s warnings on why it is so dangerous."
Stop letting other people's opinions take up real estate in your head. Build your own life, not someone else’s version of what they think yours should be. Don’t hand over the blueprints to your happiness to others who don’t even have your same values and goals.
Be unapologetically you. Put on your favorite obnoxiously bright Hawaiian shirt, bust out those ridiculous dance moves like you're auditioning for Dancing With the Stars, and above all, escape from the jail of caring about what others think.
Instead of dancing your way through life trying to please everyone, remember this: There are no trophies awarded for being the "Most Likely to Please Strangers."
And finally be sure to remind your friends "My People Pleasing Era has come to an end!"
