Should I Care What Other People Think?

Short answer: in my opinion, yes. Here is my thoughts on why (please share yours!).

This is a question I’ve battled with for most of my life.

I’m a self-proclaimed "people pleaser", and I think that’s part of being human — we do care what others think. When I was younger, I cared a lot about what people I barely knew thought about me. Their opinions carried more weight than they should have.

But as I’ve gotten older, something shifted. The definition of “other people” in the question "what other people think" changed. I started caring less about strangers’ opinions and more about the thoughts of the people I actually love and respect.

I’ve realized I don’t want to live a life where I don’t care what anyone thinks of me — not specifically my family or friends. The people closest to us shape our lives. If they don’t like who we are, they won’t want to be around us. If they do, they will. And I want the people I love to want to stick around. So I should probably care what they think if I want them around!

That’s why I still care what other people think — but I’m very intentional about which people I let influence me.

Self-help gurus have said it for years: "you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with". So ask yourself: who are those five? Do you care about their opinions of you? If the answer is no, maybe you’re surrounding yourself with the wrong people.

I’ve never tried to live a life where I don’t care at all what others think. To me, that would mark a low point — a sign that I’d lost connection with the people I value most.

The better question isn’t “Should I care what other people think?” but “Whose opinions should I care about?” Get that right, and you’ll have a powerful barometer for the life you’re building.

How about you? Would love to hear other's perspectives here!

-Joseph