There has been a massive social trend asking people to adopt a “IDGAF” or “IDC” attitude to everything. The underlying message is to do what you want without caring about what others think.
- “I don’t care what anyone thinks of me”
- “I don’t give a shit what others want”
- “Who cares man – we all die so just have fun”
The problem is that when people without wisdom/life experience adopt this mindset – they go too far with it and get burned.
There are some things you truly don’t want to care about:
- Other people judging you for something that is beneficial to you
- Opinions of losers and unsuccessful people (Body fat > 25% and Income < $150k/year)
- Problems that don’t concern you like wars happening 5000+ KM away from you (eg. North Korea, Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Gaza, etc.)
- Problems that you can’t do anything about (like who wins the election) —> Not caring about this is the key to happiness
- Losers telling you to quit too soon, the urge to try to please everyone, the desire to “fit in” etc.
There are things you must care about if you want to get anywhere in life:
- Health – Body fat and strength. You will see a lot of people “not care” about being overweight but their life would be better if they did care about it.
- Money – WiFi money or career. People will “not care” about money and work on “passions” until they run out of money and then suddenly money is the only thing that matters.
- Family. You’ll find many people who don’t care about their wife and children (too busy with work) and then act surprised that their family resents them. You will lose relationships if you don’t care about them.
- NEARBY society. A bunch of prostitutes start hanging out around your house every day. You should definitely do something about it before more anti-social elements start to show up.
Basically, adopting a blanket “I don’t care” approach to life does not work.
You WILL fail at life if you are apathetic towards it.
Not caring about anything is a sign of laziness and stupidity.
You are not only running away from your responsibilities, but also ignorant about what is good for you.
You can waste years of your life with an I Don’t Care attitude and then regret it later.
In fact, most people waste their entire 20s and then regret it in their 30s (“I wish I had worked harder back then instead of wasting time with losers”).
Do not throw the baby out with the bathwater.
You have to know what is something you should care about and what you shouldn’t.
Ask the questions:
- Does this person know what he’s talking about?
- Does he have my best interests at heart?
- Will this help me achieve my goals? Does this topic matter?
If the answer to all of these is yes, you should care.
The first one is important because a lot of well meaning people give terrible advice because everyone thinks they’re an expert at everything.
Dudes who can’t do a pull up will tell you things like “protein will damage your kidneys” (it won’t) – don’t take advice from people who haven’t done the work and don’t know what they’re talking about.
Life is too short to go around trying to please everyone, so you should learn to smile, agree, and ignore (credits to WallStreetPlayboys for this phrase).
Likewise, don’t take advice from people who don’t have your best interest at heart – for example, your co-workers. Co-workers are not your friends.
If something doesn’t help you achieve your goals – ignore it.
What am I going to do with some really good advice on how Modi should run the government? Or how the Ukraine-Russia war should be settled? I don’t have a say so why would I care.
On the other hand, if you’re trying to lose fat and someone you know lost 50kg recently and is telling you how – listen. You might learn something.
You have to be willing to learn.
If you aren’t willing to learn, you aren’t going to grow. This is a simple fact because no one knows everything and we all get better as we go.
The teenage “I don’t care” personality will waste years of your life that you could have used for both self-development and financial success.
Any idiot can decide to shut out the world and be stubborn and close minded to everything including genuine criticism.
You can “not care” about of being obese (or even be proud of it), but that doesn’t mean you won’t eventually become diabetic, lose your knees, and be treated poorly by people.
You have to be willing to recognize reality and only bother about things that matter in reality. If something matters to your well being and success – you should care about it.
Everything else is just noise. I don’t care works incredibly well for that.
– Harsh Strongman
