Don’t let the expectations of those around you crush your dreams.
Don’t let your desire to please others keep you from your dreams. In the end, you will never be able to please everyone 100% and in the meantime you will be frustrated and sad that you have lost the most valuable time of your life.
Many people understand this too late, when most opportunities have already passed. However, if you learn it today, it is because there is still something you can do to fulfill a dream or a goal that you let go by not looking bad for others. While there is life, there is hope.
Live your life your way and without asking for approval
Approval is like a drug, when you start looking for it, then you can’t stop. You want to please all the people who represent even the slightest thing in your heart. You start very young with your parents, if you were raised with very demanding parents, surely since you were a child you wanted to keep them happy.
Then, when you start developing friendships as a child, you want to fit in socially. Then you try hard to please. You may adapt fashions, words, and even attitudes in order to be admitted to a group.
Finally, when you reach the stage of puberty and begin to feel attracted to another person, you try to please them at all costs. You may be able to change even your walk just to get their attention.
These are naturally human behaviors and are quite primitive in fact. According to psychology, we act this way because from our most primitive side we understand how important it is to be part of a group and to be accepted, since prehistoric man had a great part of his survival based on the protection and support provided by others. A single person was easy prey, from there comes that anxiety of wanting to please our family, friends and a couple, so that they do not “expel” us.
However, right now we have the protection we need, so seeking to be more complacent with those around us than with ourselves is an irrational act. Leaving our own interests in the background to meet the expectations of others is not only very sad, it is a complete waste of time.
So even if your primitive anxiety tells you that you have to behave in a certain way (different from what you are) just to fit in or that you should always try to please others over your own desires, don’t do it. You’ll never be proud of that in the future.
Have the determination and courage to go your own way. Be careful not to harm others with your actions, but in the same way, keep in mind not to overdo it by taking too much care of others and too little of yourself. Pursue your goals, because you only have one life to live and others already have theirs. Allow everyone to live their life in their own way, including you.