This has got to be one of the toughest intellectual tasks we face as humans. Stop caring what other people think. It’s such a simple concept, yet so difficult to achieve.

For me, the toughest part isn’t the critics. It’s the ‘good jobs’ and the ‘we love what you’re doing.’ Because when you know you need to make changes, the critics only affirm your need to change. The ‘good jobs,’ and ‘we love you’s,’ quickly turn into ‘why would you do that? You don’t need to.’ Those are the toughest to ‘not care about.’ But I have to remind myself that I’m not doing this to please other people. It’s not to change the minds of those against me, or impress the people who do. It has to start first, with me. Otherwise, none of it is authentic.

And it’s not that we don’t care about them or love the support. It’s that we realize we need to make changes, and change is hard. Change is almost always met with opposition. But long term, staying the same is the only thing that’s harder.