In the end, people will judge you anyway. So don’t live your life impressing others, live life impressing yourself.

In the end, people will judge you anyway. So don’t live your life impressing others, live life impressing yourself.

How often do we find ourselves living our lives continuously taking into consideration what other people are going to think about the decisions that we are making? 

It has always been a consideration in a small community, because everyone knows everyone else’s business. So the opportunity to shield decisions of magnitude from others was nearly impossible. As we evolved into larger cities, people were more capable of maintaining a certain degree of anonymity. 

And then along came social media. In the world of social media, something takes place on one side of the planet and the other side of the planet is reacting in milliseconds. The fishbowl quality of the small community is massively amplified by the ability for so many people to judge what others are doing. 

We all seek a certain degree of social acceptance. Most of this is accomplished by fitting into the norm and staying within specific parameters, with the expectation that in the course of staying within those parameters, we will not be relegated to an outcast position, predicated upon what others collectively judge is appropriate.

I would argue that while it is important to stay within a certain percentage of societal norms, it is equally important to find your own strength and your own position within society and to de-regulate your own internal governance, such that you are able to fully express that which is uniquely you. How else would we come upon a Picasso, Salvador Dali, Prince or any other absolutely unique human being?

It is only in the course of those individuals having opted to free themselves from replicating what has already transpired that the unique qualities were cultivated. By enabling themselves to move forward in a direction that only they, themselves can envision, they were able to achieve that level of personal expression.

At the end of the day, I assure you that you will not impress everyone and that you will always have your share of detractors. That is just the way life works. Far more important, in my opinion, is the ability to impress yourself… to be able to look into the mirror and acknowledge that what you are doing completely reflects all that you would like to see yourself doing and achieving in life. 

If you study the greatest successes in humanity you will find this one quality common amongst all of them. They were truly renegades by societal standards in their time. Eventually their brilliance will ultimately create the greater new standard for everyone else to live up to, or surpass, as time moves on. 

Take the time in life to really determine that which will impress you, and set your sights high enough that you will achieve it through your diligence, perseverance and dedication. 

Happy Thursday!

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Written by Brian Weiner
When I was 5 years old, I discovered that the lemon tree in the backyard + dixie cups + water and sugar and I was in business. I have been hooked on that ever since. In 1979, I borrowed $14,000 to create a brand new product... photographic greeting cards with no text on the inside, called Paradise Photography. That was the start of The Illusion Factory. Since then, The Illusion Factory has been entrusted by all of the major studios and broadcasters with the advertising and marketing of over $7 billion in filmed, live, broadcast, gaming, AR, VR and regulated gaming forms of entertainment, generating more than $100 Billion in revenue and 265 awards for creativity and technology for our clients. When I took a break from film school at UCLA to move to Hawaii, my mother did not lecture me. Instead, she took 150 of her favorite aphorisms and in her beautiful calligraphy, wrote them artistically throughout a blank journal. That is the origin of the Lessons from the Mountain series. Since then, on my journeys to the top of a mountain to watch the sunrise, I have spent countless hours contemplating words of wisdom from the sages of all races, genders and political persuasions, constantly accumulating the thoughts to guide me on my life path. I hope you enjoy my books. Please let me know your thoughts, as I highly value your feedback!