“Criticism is easy; achievement is difficult.” - Winston Churchill

A friend of mine who is a very accomplished USPSA shooter posted a meme on social media the other day. It was a simple block letter quote on a black background that read “You ever notice that those who criticize others the loudest have either plateaued or never accomplished much? The ones accomplishing things are worried about getting things done, not what others are doing.”

I’ve been no stranger to criticism or even controversy in my life. And every time, no matter how upsetting the accusations, I’ve just put my head down and continued to work. And in the end, without fail, the critics haven’t mattered. There will always be those who spend their time worrying more about what others are doing than what they need to do. There will always be people who judge without objectivity or evidence. This is simply a fact of life. And the more I learn to disregard the white noise of criticism, the more progress I make towards my goals.

There is a famous story about the zen master Takuan Soho. Takuan was one of Miyamoto Musashi’s mentors, and wrote a manual on zen in swordsmanship for another famous samurai, Yagyu Munenori. When Takuan was a young priest, a mob of angry villagers accused him of getting a teenage girl pregnant. All Takuan said was “Oh, that’s interesting.” Months later the girl recanted, admitting she accused Takuan to avoid implicating her boyfriend. When the villagers apologized to Takuan, he once again simply said “oh, that’s interesting.”

The lesson from this story is that others will think what they will, regardless of your words or deeds. You have no control over anyone’s thoughts except your own. As long as you are doing the right things, another’s opinion of you shouldn’t matter in the slightest. Live your life authentically and pursue your goals without concerning yourself with the opinions of others.