This is Why You Can’t Try To Avoid Criticism

Nobody wants to be criticized. It doesn’t feel good when people judge what you’ve done. We want the right people to like us, we want all people to like us. We want to be accepted, appreciated, celebrated. So we try to be like other people, like the people that everyone likes. Imagine if he had tried instead to conform to their expectations, to fit more clearly in the box they wanted him to be. Imagine if he’d tried to win the mob’s favor or the respect of future generations by conquest or dazzling deed. Imagine if he had written Meditations for an audience instead of from a far more personal and vulnerable place. It doesn’t matter what you do, the criticism is always going to be there. So you might as well do what you think ought to be done. You might as well do what seems meaningful and important and fulfilling and right to you. People are going to say what they’re going to say, haters will find a way to hate. In the meantime, just be true to yourself, be true to the mission you have, fight for the respect (and praise) of yourself, not the mob, not the future.✉️ Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail🏛 Check out the Daily Stoic Store for Stoic inspired products, signed books, and more.📱 Follow us: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, FacebookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. 📢 Share | ⚙️ Manage Subscription

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:03Ryan Holiday?

  Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, where each day we bring you a passage of ancient wisdom designed to help you find strength, insight, and wisdom in everyday life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2,000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at DailyStoic.com.

• 0:24Ryan Holiday?

  This is why you can't try to avoid criticism. Nobody wants to be criticized. It doesn't feel good when people judge what you've done. We want the right people to like us. We want all people to like us. We want to be accepted, appreciated, celebrated. So we try to be like other people, like the people that everyone likes. But in the end, does this effort pay off? No, it doesn't. You work hard to preempt criticism, to appeal to the trends, to make people like you, and what happens? They still criticize you. Somebody finds something to find fault with you about. Think of how Marcus Aurelius was savaged by critics in his own time, just as he is today by many academics and philosophers, written off by many historians. Imagine then if he had tried to conform to their expectations, to fit more clearly in the box they wanted him to be in.

• 1:08Ryan Holiday?

  Imagine if he tried to win the mob's favor or respect of future generations by conquest or dazzling deed. Imagine if he'd written meditations for an audience instead of far more personal and vulnerable place. It doesn't matter what you do. The criticism is always going to be there. So you might as well do what you think ought to be done. You might as well do what seems meaningful and important and fulfilling and right to you. People are going to say what they're going to say. Haters will find a way to hate. In the meantime, just be true to yourself. Be true to the mission you have and fight for the respect and praise of yourself, not the mob, not the future. That's hard enough to win, anyway.