Put up with being laughed out on occasion, look around you, and to give yourself a good shaking to find out who you really are. Common sense tells us that a modicum of concern for the opinions of others is useful in the cultivating of good relationships and the maintenance of social cohesion. But most people care too much about what other people think.

And in this video, we will explore how this is damaging to our psychological health. We will then look at how becoming more comfortable with ridicule, rejection and the disdain of others can greatly increase our chance of living a fulfilling life. It never ceases to amaze me wrote Marcus Aurelius. We all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own. In the modern West, a great emphasis is placed on the attainment of social validation and on looking good in the eyes of others.

And this is creating a population of men and women who are stunted in their development. For social validation is derived primarily from one thing, success in the external world, or at least the appearance of it. Our job title, our material possessions, the size of our bank account, our physical looks and fashion choices, the status of the people we associate with. Such are the things that bring the validation that so many crave. But this excessive orientation to the world of people, places and things is not a healthy way to live. For as Carl Jung writes, The man whose interests are all outside is never satisfied with what is necessary, but is perpetually hankering after something more and better which, true to his bias, he always seeks outside himself, he forgets completely that for all his outward successes, he himself remains the same inwardly.

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