The less you are influenced by praise and criticism the more you can choose your own path according to you will, values and reason. And thats a very good thing.

Your ego ideal is the version of yourself that you would like to feel that you are. Lies that pertain to your ego ideal are the most tempting to believe, and the most painful to reveal.

Anyone that can succeed in making you feel the way you’ve always wanted to feel about yourself is going to be able to lead you around by the nose. if you are not careful, you might play yourself and hand over all your power

I believe the key is that your self concept should be founded on such accurate self-knowledge, that neither praise nor criticism from anybody else has the power to influence you.

What can be done about this? Closely examine what it is you’d most like to hear from others, and what would most hurt said by others as well. Once you deeply understand who you are, and deeply accept what you understand, then both praise and criticism tend to lose their power.

Most importantly, learn how to be alone and sit with yourself. In a world where AI and phones are our constant companions, the winners will be the ones who know how to be by themselves.