Don’t waste the rest of your time here worrying about other people - unless it affects the common good. It will keep you from doing anything useful. You’ll be too preoccupied with what so-and-so is doing, and why, and what they’re saying, and what they’re thinking, and what they’re up to, and all the other things that throw you off and keep you from focusing on your own mind.
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
If you sell water in a desert, does it matter what people think of you?
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If you can truly produce something of value, their opinions do not matter.
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But, how to produce something of value?
- Be yourself. Being yourself is the same as overcoming your own problems, and truly overcoming your own problems is what allows you to help others overcome theirs. So, true value lies in being oneself.
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Providing value is the only form of true security.
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Once you get the security by other means, you no need to worry about what other people will think about yourself.
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Now, you are free. You can focus on your mind.
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Now, you can produce something of value. (Which is step 1 and the loop continues)
Cite
Being oneself is the first step that can be taken to enter into the loop.