What Other People Think of You is None of Your Business

Hello, hello,

The title of this post is a quote that you can find attributed to everyone from Deepak Chopra to Paulo Coelho to Jack Canfield to Madonna…

It came to me via a poem by Rumi, so I am going to credit him.

Why am I thinking about this today?

Well, as you can see from the picture above, this morning I had the dubious pleasure of doing my yoga practice in a hotel gym.

(Normally when I’m on the road I practice in my hotel room but short of practicing in my bathroom – no, thanks– there was no room there.)

As practicing in non-yoga-specific public spaces feels weird to me, I was tempted to abandon the project.

Then I remembered: what everyone in the gym thought about me was none of my business.

My business was to practice.

Et Voila.

I send this quote along to you today in the hope that it will inspire you—the next time you find yourself tempted to abandon that thing which will make you happy/great/strong because you’re concerned about what others might think of you—

It’s none of your business.

For more wisdom from the incomparable Rumi, check out “Sell Your Cleverness and Buy Bewilderment”