Welcome to the Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast. Our intention is to awaken, enlighten, enrich, and inspire a simple and uncomplicated life. Discover the benefits of mindful living with your host, Timber Hawkeye.

In my one-on-one session with a few of you over the past couple of weeks, I have noticed a recurring theme of stress, anxiety, and depression,

all stemming from being concerned about what other people think. It's a fascinating combination

of both insecurity and self-obsession.

I mean, we spend so much time thinking about ourselves.

How we look, how we sound, how we come across, how do we compare?

If we lack confidence or feel empty inside we end up

filling that void with other people's opinions of us even though we know that

their judgment actually reveals more about them than it does about us.

But I admit that there are times when I also worry about someone else's judgment of me,

but it's only when I'm insecure with how I feel about myself.

And the more confident I am about my decisions,

the less I need them approved or accepted by others.

My takeaway is that if we don't know who we are, then we run the risk of believing what others think about us.

My friend Justin was raised by a father who always pushed him to succeed by yelling at him to do better,

comparing him to others, calling him lazy, a loser, even when he was getting all A's in school and winning trophies and sports.

Nothing was ever good enough for him.

Fast forward to Justin now as an adult, who despite being successful,

healthy and wealthy, still believes he would never amount to anything because his father's

voice is now in his own head.

Years after his father has passed away, Justin is still trying to impress the man who has never been

impressed by anything anyone has ever done.

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