How Much Do You Care What Others Think?

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Various chaos in my life lately has left me wondering why I care so much what others think, mostly because my husband Mike seems to have very little interest in what anyone thinks of his choices.

We had an interesting discussion of this the other day, and concluded that men tend to care less than women what others think of them. But, if this is true, why?

I would say I was raised to care what others think of me, and it is only since I met Mike that I have slowly lost interest in other peoples’ opinions of the choices I make. I guess that is called independent thinking. This leaves me feeling quite liberated, although Mike calls my efforts mere baby steps.

Is this something that changes with aging? Check out #16 in this excellent article called: 20 Signs You Are Succeeding in Life… (http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/20-signs-youre-succeeding-life-even-you-dont-feel-you-are.html)

“You Don’t Care What Other People Think”:
You know you can’t please everyone. You know that the standards with which society judges is many times unrealistic… So just keep true to yourself and love the person you are.”

To this I would respond: So much easier to say than do! Perhaps caring too much about what others think is a barrier to growing up and your own happiness… I know it has been for me!

Laura Lee Carter, MA Counseling Psychology, the writer behind the popular online Midlife Crisis Queen, has been helping others turn midlife difficulties into opportunities for personal change since 2007. Besides working as a psychotherapist, Laura Lee has authored a number of books and e-books on midlife transformation. Don’t miss her new bookFind Your Reason to Be Here: The Search for Meaning in Midlife. Follow her on Twitter: @midlifequeen.