Stop caring what other people think
Other people are not going to do the work for you
Gary Bloomer | SHAKING THE TREE # 319
Stop caring what other people think!
I’ve been writing online consistently now for three years, showing up twice a week.
My first 50 posts or so were pretty lame. The viral growth I thought I’d earn didn’t materialize, and on several occasions Ive thought about giving everything up.
But then an odd thing happened. Although my audience was pretty small, the moment I stopped caring what other people thought about my content, everything changed.
I stopped thinking I needed anyone’s permission and instead I started writing the kind of stuff I’d like to have read when I set out on my current journey.
If you’re struggling right now and you’re not seeing the results you thought you would see, this article is for you.
Let’s be honest for a second. Most of the content being churned out today is lifeless, bloodless dross.
While much of it is smooth, polished, and perfectly optimized for the algorithms, it’s also devoid of soul.
There are no scars.
There enough warts or typos or stumbles.
Too many beginner content creators have traded creative conviction for community consensus, and it’s killing the very thing that makes their content worth consuming in the first place.
If you’re a content creator, writer, or designer, I have a single, brutal piece of advice for you: Stop caring what other people think.
The “Feedback” Trap
We are obsessed with validation. Before a post goes live, it passes through a gauntlet of anxiety: Will this offend someone? Will my peers think I’m a fraud? What if it only gets three likes?
So, what do we do?
We sand off the sharp edges.
We tone down the opinion.
We use the same corporate-approved adjectives and the same recycled templates. We make our work “safe.”
But “safe” is just another word for invisible.
When you create content designed to please everyone, you create something that moves no one.
You become an echo, not a voice.
The moment you let the hypothetical judgment of an anonymous internet crowd dictate your creative choices, you hand over the keys to your sandbox.
The Illusion of the “Target Audience”
Every marketing guru tells you to focus on your audience. And yes, you should understand who you are talking to. But there is a massive difference between serving an audience and pandering to them.
True creative authority doesn’t come from giving people what they say they want. It comes from giving them what you know is valuable, presented through the lens of your unique, unfiltered perspective.
Think about the creators you actually admire. The ones whose newsletters you open the second they hit your inbox, or whose videos you watch all the way to the end.
Do they feel like they ran their ideas through a focus group?
Absolutely not.
They have a viewpoint.
They take a stand.
They risk being disliked by the many to be deeply loved by the few.
How to Reclaim Your Edge
If you want to survive the deluge of AI-generated, commoditized noise flooding the internet right now, you have to lean into the one thing code can’t replicate: your raw, human perspective.
Here is how you start building that creative immunity:
• Publish before you’re comfortable: If a piece of content doesn’t make you feel a little bit naked right before you hit “publish,” you probably haven’t pushed hard enough.
• Mute the critics (and the fans): Rudyard Kipling famously wrote about meeting with “Triumph and Disaster” and treating those two impostors just the same. The same goes for internet comments. Praise can make you lazy; criticism can make you timid. Ignore both and focus on the work.
• Create for an audience of one: Write the article you needed to read two years ago. Design the graphic that makes your eyes light up. If it resonates with you, it will resonate with someone else.
The Bottom Line
The internet doesn’t need more echo chambers, and it certainly doesn’t need more people playing it safe.
It needs conviction.
It needs flavor, verve, and character.
Stop waiting for a green light from people who don’t have the skin in the game to create anything themselves.
Your audience isn’t looking for a perfect, sanitized version of you.
They are looking for you.
So, stop asking for permission.
Stop checking the temperature of the room. Just say what you mean, mean what you say, and let the chips fall where they may.
As always, thanks for reading.
—Gary
Feel free to follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn
P.S. If you found this useful, share it with another creator who needs an ego check (in a nice way). Want more unfiltered takes on content creation? Join my newsletter. No fluff, just the stuff that works.
Next time on Shaking the Tree: Why your content needs seasoning
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the U.K., Gary Bloomer is a writer, branding advocate, marketing specialist, and an award-winning graphic designer.
His design work has been included in Creative Review (one of the UK’s largest design magazines). Since 2009, he has answered over 5,000 marketing and business questions in the Know-How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, placing him among the top 3% of contributors. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.