I almost let people who had said nothing decide whether I started my podcast

When I worked as a receptionist, I noticed how easily one nasty client could occupy my memory. There could be plenty of friendly or completely ordinary clients around them, but somehow that one person stayed with me.

The same thing happened before I started my podcast. I was afraid that people who didn’t like me would find it, find my Instagram account, listen, and judge me for putting myself out there. They didn’t have to say anything. I was already doing the work for them.

I kept imagining their reaction and letting it shape my choice. I wasn’t weighing useful criticism. Nobody had given me anything specific to consider. I was giving their possible opinion so much weight because it could hurt, while giving far less weight to what making the podcast could bring me.

For a while, I treated that fear as if it were evidence. It wasn’t.

One day, I stopped asking what they might say and asked what the project could bring me instead. The positive side felt much bigger, so I started the podcast. I don’t regret it.

Starting didn’t remove the doubt or give me permanent confidence. My confidence still changes from one day to the next. Specific, constructive criticism can help me, but vague mockery and reactions I’ve imagined can’t tell me whether something is worth doing.

The people mocking from the sidelines aren’t the ones taking the risk, building the business, or living my life. My life belongs to me. If I want to create something, build a business, or make a personal choice that matters to me, I don’t want their possible reaction making that choice for me.

Ever since I understood that, life has felt simpler. I still care what people think, but I move forward with the things I want to do instead of organizing my choices around what someone might say.

What about you? Have you ever let someone else’s possible reaction make a decision for you?