Interested in what people think of you?

    How much do you think much about what others think of you?

    One person who did was Ellsworth Toohey.

    He is a fictional character – an architecture critic – in Ayn Rand’s 1943 book “The Fountainhead“.

    He’s the antagonist.  The protagonist is Howard Roark – an architect with radical ideas.

    One day Toohey asks Roark:

    “Mr. Roark, we’re alone here. Why don’t you tell me what you think of me? In any words you wish. No one will hear us.“

    Roark’s response is a classic.  All those years ago when I read it for the first time I remember laughing out loud.  He answered:

    “But I don’t think of you.”  [emphasis is mine]

    People think about us far less than we might sometimes think/hope they do.

    Here’s an example.  For 2021 I made a New Year resolution to walk 10,000 steps a day.  And I told people.  And how often was I asked how I was doing?  Never.

    There’s no sin in wanting external validation, in wanting people to think favourably of you, in being flattered by plaudits.  But there’s a risk with it – the risk is that you won’t do the “thing” unless you’re getting the external validation.

    It’s the person in the mirror whom you want to be worthy of.

    Can anyone else give you the effort you need?

    Would the person you want to be do whatever it is that you’re about to do next?

    And that mention I made of the person in the mirror?  If you want someone to hold up that mirror to you and your business, email me to find out more.