People will talk. They always have. And they always will. No matter what you do or say, how you behave, the way you walk or dress, how you act, or the decisions you make, will always be scrutinized by others. It’s just the nature of people.

We allow other people’s opinions to not only hurt us, but oftentimes, to define us.

Someone else’s opinion of you is NOT your reality. Repeat it until you believe it. Only you know what is best for you.

It doesn’t matter what other people think of you. It doesn’t matter what other people say about you behind closed doors or even right in front of your face. Their opinions have no basis in defining what you’re all about. They aren’t truth. They have no purpose other than to hurt or harm you. There is no rhyme or reason beyond making the other person feel superior to you in some way or another.

Unfortunately we can’t control what other people think of us and we shouldn’t really care. Because at the end of the day all that matters is what WE think about ourselves and what we know to be the truth.

People are entitled to think whatever they want, just as you are entitled to think what you want.

I had a situation where I was the victim of malicious gossip. I let it get to me, and I shouldn’t have because I knew the truth and I knew that at the end of the day anyone who believed it was not truly on my side or meant to be in my life.

I also had a significant other who liked to psychoanalyze me and point out all of my flaws, especially when he was getting ready to discard me. It was exhausting and unnecessary.

At first I believed what he said because I had been in an emotionally abusive relationship but once I got distance from him I realized just how little his words meant and how they were not factual but based on his opinion and shrouded in his agenda.

It’s important to recognize that someone’s opinion is often based on what they would do. This alone is the problem. What is best for somebody else, can be the worst thing for you.

If you are constantly worried about what other people think, you will never get to where you need to go. Live your life without worrying about other people’s thoughts and opinions.

Also drumroll – others don’t care as much about you as you think.

The average person filters their world through their ego, meaning that they think about most things in terms of “me” or “my.”

This means that, unless who you are or what you have done directly affects another person or their life, they are unlikely to spend much time thinking about you at all.

It doesn’t matter what other people think. Not at all. As long as you’re doing the right thing and you’re interested in creating value and contributing to the world, you shouldn’t care what anyone else thinks or says about you.

At the end of the day someone else’s opinion is just that – an opinion. You know yourself better than anyone else. Ignore the outside noise and be unapologetically YOU.