Do you often spend too much time impressing people and want to know how to stop trying to impress others? Then, this is just the right article for you. Let’s go in-depth about it and determine if we should or shouldn’t try to impress others and how to stop doing it.

Impressing someone means causing them to feel admiration or respect towards you. It is a positive thing, but only when it happens naturally. Don’t get me wrong- impressing others is good, and I’m sure most people want to do so, but it’s harmful when it becomes the only thing you care about.

More often than not, our desire to impress others motivates us. Sometimes it’s for a crush, a friend, and occasionally someone in a superior position. But is this habit healthy? That entirely depends on how you try to do it.

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Should we try to impress others?

Seeing your crush getting interested in you, your friends admiring you, or getting approval from your boss sounds fantastic. And we can achieve these by impressing them, one way or the other. So surely we should always try to impress them, right? But, of course, that answer depends on the context.

Let’s imagine two scenarios. In the first one, your boss gave you a project, and you showed excellent leadership skills in completing it efficiently while being very productive. As a result, your boss genuinely admired your work. 

Now, let’s get to the second scenario. In this one, you sabotaged your colleagues secretly, and your boss was impressed that you did the job better than the others. However, when the rest of the team found out about what you did, they started excluding and disliking you. 

Which plays out better for you in the long term? You can clearly tell that the first scenario is a much healthier way. Impressing others shouldn’t be your primary goal, but if you end up impressing them, then it’s a bonus. It should come naturally or without sacrificing too much of yourself, stepping over dead bodies, and it shouldn’t become your obsession. 

Sometimes people lose themselves while trying to impress someone else. They change their whole personality just to gain someone else’s approval, and that is when it becomes harmful.

So, is it reasonable to impress others? Yes, but only when it happens naturally or you do it with your talent and ethically. It’s harmful when you try too hard without purpose except to impress others.

5 signs that you care too much about what others think

Most of the population always seeks someone’s approval. And sometimes, it happens subconsciously, without the person realizing it. You might even be doing things for others’ approval without knowing. So, here are the 5 signs that you care too much about what others think.

You let others make decisions for you

You are often indecisive and rely on others to make decisions for you. Sometimes you even hope they’ll be happy if you do what they decide for you. But, in the end, their thinking wins over yours to gain their approval.

You change yourself for others

You are heavily affected by people’s criticisms and change yourself for them while prioritizing their opinion over yours and making changes in your life and lifestyle to blend with a group of friends or to get validation from someone, even if it affects you negatively.

You always stress about what others think

You’re constantly worried about what others will think before taking any major step. You’re concerned that someone might dislike it and let it affect your decision even if you want to do it. So you value what they will think about it over what you think. 

You can’t say no

You never say “no” to others. Even when you don’t want to do something, you do it to make the other person happy. Trying to make others happy is a noble deed, but it shouldn’t come at the cost of your own happiness. Of course, it’s purely subjective and depends on the situation, but it can have a negative effect when you don’t respect your boundaries and let others take advantage of you.

You go out of your way to please people 

If you do the abovementioned things, you’re already doing this too. You’re a people pleaser and do something with the sole purpose of pleasing people. Most of the time, it interrupts your own schedule and workflow.

5 ways to stop trying to impress others

It is essential to stop trying to impress others for your own good. Besides trying to stop doing the five things mentioned above, you can try these tips to stop yourself from trying too hard for others and even be able to impress people naturally.

Focus on yourself

You’re the one you should be trying to impress. Push yourself until you’re satisfied with your achievements and not others. Try to gain your own approval. Don’t do things that make you unhappy to impress someone else.

Do things for yourself

For example, if you’re trying to bulk up or lose weight, you should do it to become healthier. Not because you think your crush will like you more or your friend called you skinny or fat.

Control your feelings

Human beings are driven by their feelings. We let our emotions get in our way and let ourselves be affected by other people’s words or actions. We seek their validation to make ourselves feel better. However, it is necessary to not let emotions dictate our actions.

Stay true to yourself

Don’t put on a fake personality or try to be someone you’re not just to impress someone. It won’t make you happy, and the truth will get out sooner or later. In the end, losing yourself while trying to impress someone isn’t worth it. 

Get your priorities right

Focus on your own goals, and don’t sabotage yourself for others. Don’t get distracted from your path to impress someone else. Instead, have your own free will and do what makes you happy. Avoid prioritizing how someone else will feel over an essential goal you have.

Conclusion

In the end, it’s only you who can change yourself and who will truly feel your change’s consequences. It’s on you to increase your self-worth and do things for yourself and not others. 

First, evaluate yourself and see how much you relate to this article. Knowing how to stop trying to impress others is a positive step toward your goal. Apply what you learned, and in no time, you’ll have a boost in your confidence, and eventually, you’ll start impressing others without trying to impress them.