7 Quotes for When You Need to Care Less about What Other People Think (Printable)

Women watch.

We watch what our peers are wearing at school drop-off. We watch how other women talk to the kids whose hands they’re holding or the sales clerk whose attention they’re seeking.

We watch.

And in turn, we expect that everyone else is watching us too.

But it’s exhausting, and I for one can always benefit from the reminder to keep my eyes focused on the work that matters to me. My own growth, my family’s health and wellbeing—the good stuff.

A month or so ago, this headline caught my eye. I loved the concept but didn’t relate as fully to the quotes they shared. So I put together a few quotes that have touched me over the years and have helped me remember in some form or another to dial back my self-consciousness and dial up my self-love.

I hope one of these quotes strikes you like they have me!

1. For when you need to remember that the hard stuff brings growth:

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost.
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
– J. R. R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings

2. For when you need to choose your company with care: 

“I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.” – Mahatma Gandhi

3. For when you need to watch what you let your mind dwell on: 

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” –Socrates

4. For when you need to let go: 

“I found my life when I laid it down.” – hand-lettered art

5. For when you have to go easy on those around you: 

“How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong, because someday in your life, you will have been all of these.” – George Washington Carver

6. For when you need to remember that it’s way better to be a doer than a mocker: 

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again… If he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly.” – Theodore Roosevelt (also the cornerstone of Brené Brown’s book Daring Greatly)

7. For when you need to realize whose voice you’re listening to: 

There is a voice inside of you
That whispers all day long,
“I feel this is right for me,
I know that this is wrong.”
No teacher, preacher, parent, friend
Or wise man can decide
What’s right for you—just listen to
The voice that speaks inside.
– Shel Silverstein, “The Voice”

Oh man, that Shel Silverstein was wise. Free printable here. 🙂