There’s an old saying that goes something like this: “People who are too busy rowing the boat don’t have time to rock it.” The meaning is pretty straightforward: when you are occupied with doing the work, you don’t have much time to criticize others.

William Faulkner said something similar: “The artist doesn’t have time to listen to the critics. The ones who want to be writers read the reviews, the ones who want to write don’t have the time to read reviews.”

If you are too worried about what other people think of you, it might be because you’re not putting enough time into your writing. Spend your emotional energy on creating, on serving, on writing. Then you won’t have much time left to care much about what others think.

Daily Question: On a scale of 1-10, how much time and energy do you spend worrying about what others think of you?