• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Dawn Barclay

Helping you align all that you do with your core values

  • New? Start Here
  • Is This You?
    • You Want to Reclaim Your Courage & Confidence
    • You Want to Align Who You Are With What You ‘Do’ In the World
    • You Need More Moxie for Your Business
    • You Are Looking for Values Training for You or Your Team/Group
  • Work Together
    • Online Workshops & Training (All)
    • Live Events & Training Workshops (All)
    • Upcoming Events (List)
    • ValuesBase© Coaching
  • Blog
  • About
    • Living Moxie Mission & Values
    • Approach & Ethos
    • About Dawn
    • About You, The Moxieologist
    • Kind Words
    • Contact

What Will ‘People’ Think?

January 3 Dawn

After being told off by mum one day, I stormed out the house almost taking the door off its hinges when I slammed it behind me, thudded up the garden and then I turned around and gave her the two-fingered salute. I didn’t know the impact of the hand signal (I was 7 or 8), but needless to say, I had an audience, she saw it, then she moved like a tornado after me. She went all Olympic runner, caught me, and I got hauled back inside for another rollicking.

From that day, there was always this little niggle that whatever I got up to, the parentals would be there, like they had invisibility cloaks or some other weird and wonderful magic ability. Ready to judge, comment, raise an eyebrow and ‘tut’, nicknamed ‘The Watchers’.

Then, when I became an adult and moved far enough away to not be ‘caught’, I substituted the parentals for other people.

Constantly I would be wondering and worrying about the audience: a generic term because I couldn’t even tell you who they were, I don’t have their names. I would hold back just in case I was making a mistake or worried about how my behaviour would be viewed in their eyes. I would join in when I wanted to separate, laugh because the audience was laughing even though I didn’t find it funny, I would be nice so as not to be hated. Recite the script that I didn’t write or believe in. Stay seated, even when I wanted to stand.

We think others are watching and judging us, more often than not we are watching and judging ourselves.

As you work on your goals in your life, and whenever you hear the words in your head, ‘What will people think?’

Ask yourself: which people specifically? Or have you got an imaginary group of Watchers, throwbacks from the growing up years? Journal the hell out that baby! Seriously. Nobody is watching you, they have there own battles going on.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Living Moxie Sidebar 1 Hello there you. Once upon a time you were, literally, fully yourself. If you need some help to deploy the most authentic version of you into the world I would love to support you. If this is your first visit click here and let me welcome you properly. Or a great starting place is the resources. Love, Dawn Xo

SELF-PACED WORKSHOPS

#define your core


What do you stand for? What matters to you? To help, download the Core Values Workbook. Click here to find out more.

Recent Posts

  • I Hate the Language of Cancer
  • Scratching Your Itches
  • Let’s Talk About ‘Shooting Yourself In the Foot’
  • On Being Enough
  • Career Hijacking (A Story)
  • It Was Just a Thought
  • Try V’s Committed
  • What Are You (Really) Focusing On?
  • You Are Only As Good as Your Last Fuck Up…
  • Finding Your Way Through (& You Will, You Will)

Recent Comments

  • Dawn on Why Perfectionism and Business Don’t Mix
  • You're Not Perfect! Get Over It and Get Things Done! - Dawn Mentzer, Freelance Marketing Content Writer on Why Perfectionism and Business Don’t Mix
  • Nario on Stop Punishing Your Optimism. Seriously.
  • Roberto Barabbas on 65 Ways To Really Mess Up Your Life
  • joe on Do You Have a Fear of Speaking In Meetings?

For You

  • Blog
  • Updates & Toolkit
  • Confidence Course
  • Define Your Core

Online Programmes & Workshops

the-moxie-project-2 Unfinished Human

Blog Categories

COPYRIGHT © 2017 · LIVING MOXIE · Privacy · Contact · Google+