Letting People Stay Wrong About You: A Sacred Skill We All Need to Master

I used to think my job was to convince everyone around me that I was enough.

Enough smart, enough kind, enough funny, enough whatever they needed me to be. I was in the business of performing—playing a role, tweaking my words, softening my edges, and trying desperately to fix the narrative others had about me.

But here’s the hard truth: You can’t control what people think of you. 

And sometimes, they’re going to be wrong about you.

Sometimes, they’ll build a whole version of you that doesn’t even remotely resemble who you really are.

And guess what? That’s okay.

At first, I fought it. I tried to explain myself, to clarify, to argue my truth.

I invested so much time and emotional energy trying to convince people to see the real me—the me that’s messy, flawed, vulnerable, and fiercely authentic. But the harder I tried, the more exhausting it got.

Because the truth is, some people don’t want to see the real you. 

They want to keep you in their box, their version of reality, and no amount of explaining will change that.

That’s when I learned something sacred: allowing people to not only be wrong about you, but to stay wrong about you, is a radical act of self-love and preservation.

When you let go of the need to be understood or accepted by everyone, you reclaim your power. You stop performing for approval and start living for you. You stop carrying the weight of other people’s judgments, assumptions, and misconceptions.

This doesn’t mean you stop caring or stop communicating—it means you recognize that your worth is not dependent on someone else’s perception. You get to set your boundaries and say, “I’m not responsible for your version of me.”

And here’s the beauty of it: once you free yourself from the exhausting cycle of convincing, you can put that energy back into the only person who truly matters—you. You can nurture your own self-love, prioritize your peace, and build a life that feels authentic and whole.

I know it’s hard. We’re wired for connection and approval. It hurts when people misunderstand us or reject us. But the alternative—living in constant fear of how others see us—is a slow, painful drain on our souls.

So, if you’re still stuck in the loop of trying to fix your image in someone else’s eyes, here’s a gentle nudge to try something different. Practice the sacred skill of letting people be wrong about you. Let them hold their misconceptions. Let them stay confused or misinformed. Because your peace, your authenticity, and your self-worth are far more important than winning someone else’s approval.

This is your permission slip to stop performing.

To stop shrinking.

To stop apologizing for the beautiful, complicated, messy human you are.

The era of performing for approval is over.

And you? You’ve never been freer.

With love,

Kelleen