You Don’t Care About What Other People Think? BS.

I'm told I shouldn't care about what other people think. That it's a right of passage in your 40s to be liberated from other people's judgements of me. 

And I'm here to call bullsh**. 

I would not be motivated to do much of anything in the public domain if I did not care about what other people thought.  My guess is that you're no different. Other peoples perceptions act as a proxy against which we design our motivation. 

You might dress one way at home, and another way at work. Why? Because you care about what people think. You don't wave your hands wildly in a meeting to get attention. Why? Because you care about what people think. You post certain things on IG and LinkedIn, and not others because? Yup, you care. 

We all do. The key, however, is getting clear on what you want your perception to be and sharing stories and messages that ladder up to that so you can have more control over your narrative and your reputation (ie. your perception) out in the world. 

Where we get into trouble is when we worry we aren't enough so we show up trying desperately to be like someone else—aiming for a false sense of what other people *think* we should be like. That leads to damaged trust because people don't know who you actually are, what to believe, and what to invest their time into. So they go elsewhere. Yikes. We don't want that. We want people to pay attention to you!

Just yesterday I was on the phone with a VP of HR at a very large national brand you've all heard of. She even said, at this point in her life and her career, despite a deep confidence in herself and what she's accomplished thus far, that she found herself feeling like she should be more like her boss—more outgoing, more gregarious, more charismatic.

That was, until, she realized that her style, her “brand” as it were, was exactly what people wanted. This VP DID care about what other people thought so she started showing up with stories and messages that were aligned with her values and identities, and guess what? Her boss noticed. Her team noticed. And she was promoted because of people's trust in her.

Ultimately, trust is based upon experiences people have with you. To gain trust, you have to show up consistently as you. But what is that? How do you know how to show up so people respond to you in the way you want?

That's what we work on in The Raw Leader, The Raw Athlete and The Raw Entrepreneur programs. Need help? Reach out, book 30 min with me, and I can walk you through what this looks like and how else it can benefit you, your career, and your life. K?  

xo, Lindsay