You’re on the brink of hanging up your shingle and offering your gift to the world. But instead you stare blankly at the screen, paralyzed by the fear of no one showing up.

Or… you almost announce your new blog on Facebook and ask for help spreading the word. But you hesitate as your mind fast-forwards to catastrophic what-ifs of no one really loving you enough to help.

Or… you start to ask for the contract, the deal, the review, but fortune-telling anxieties keep it collecting dust in your drafts folder.

Does this sound familiar?

God knows I’ve held myself back, wondering, worrying, agonizing about what someone else might think of me.

I’ve imagined the worst. Launching a product that feels edgy and makes me vulnerable but results in me being shunned by my peers, secretly laughed at at parties I was never invited to.

Sounds crazy, I know. But we all do it to some degree or another.

Sometimes the fear of what “other people” think has sadly tainted my work, holding me back from what I really want to say. I’ve even watered my message down to make it more “appropriate.”

And every time, two things happen like clockwork:

I feel gross for compromising my vision. None of the doomsday scenarios ever pan out.

That’s because the real truth is that no one really cares.

I’ll prove it:

You walk into the opening party at an event you’ve been wanting to attend all year. It’s like a big-freaking-deal in your world. Maybe it’s the World Domination Summit or SXSW.

Whatever it is, you’re excited, nervous and totally self-conscious.

You wonder what everyone will think of you. Maybe they’ll think you’re lame. Maybe they’ll find out that you’re not really an expert and have no business teaching what you’re teaching. You’ll be found out. Laughed at.

Or worse, no one will talk to you at all.

But have you ever noticed that everyone else is busy thinking about themselves?

Suddenly, you’re in a big room full of people freaking out about what everyone thinks about them, when no one is really thinking about anyone else at all.

Kind of comedic, huh?

The reality is that no one really cares that much about what you do. So you might as well do whatever you want.

Here are a few ways you can practice this today:

Share your feedback honestly with someone. Speak compassionate truth.

Share your story fully — don’t skip over the embarrassing and ugly bits.

Don’t censor yourself. Speak the way you would in real life.

Wear the shirt your partner hates that you secretly love. Tell him to deal with it.

Create your art exactly the way you want to. Take risks. Walk the edges. Don’t compromise.

Do something in your business to follow your own heart, rather than blindly listening to what the experts think you should do.

Dance wildly. Even while someone’s looking. :)

Whatever you want to do, go, just do it. Because the truth is, no one really cares. Tweet

Ah, now isn’t that liberating?

Share your truth: What would YOU do if no one cared? Leave a comment and liberate yourself.

Note: This post was inspired by a conversation I had with Justin Ziorardi at the Green Dragon Pub in Portland. Thanks Justin for reminding me of the power of not caring what other people think.

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