There’s a quote I return to whenever it feels like the world is against me:

“If you absolutely can’t tolerate critics, then don’t do anything new or interesting.” - Jeff Bezos

It’s a simple line with a deep reminder:

No matter what you do, or how you choose to live, someone will tell you you’re doing it wrong.

That it’s not going to work. That you aren’t qualified. That your values are broken or misguided. That you’re destined to fail.

I’ve been there—and every single time, I find myself wondering if they’re right.

But here’s the thing that most of us miss in these moments:

The criticism isn’t a signal you’re off track. It’s just the tax you pay for doing things your own way. The cost of entry for carving your own path.

Because people don’t judge the merits of your path. They judge how well it aligns with theirs.

Everyone carries a mental map of life, shaped by their preferences, values, incentives, fears, and experiences.

When they see you doing something—launching a new business, making a career move, choosing a different lifestyle—they instinctively lay their map on top of your terrain.

The problem, of course, is that the two rarely match.

What looks irrational from their vantage point may be deeply aligned from yours. What seems risky, greedy, naïve, or misguided through their lens might be thoughtful, values-driven, or even obvious through your own.

But no one pauses to ask what your terrain looks like.

They see a tiny sliver of your life—and confidently draw conclusions as if they’ve walked the entire landscape.

I faced this recently with the launch of my new business, ​Wild Roman​. I was blown away by the initial response—but also, by the detractors.

I’m always open to feedback, good and bad, but one thing became clear:

The criticism wasn’t about the execution (they hadn’t tried ​the product​, which is amazing). It was about the assumed motivation.

Detractors were judging it on the basis of a purely financial motivation—a standard, default assumption—and saying I was doing it wrong.

Their logic was clean, linear, and logical. Their conclusions…entirely incorrect.

The criticism was grounded in a broken premise: My motivation was not, in fact, financial. I wanted to create something I thought should exist. I find the financial rewards are a natural byproduct of working on things I care about, with people I care about.

I was just playing a different game. My game. Not the one they're used to.

The point of this story is to make something abundantly clear:

No matter what you do, someone out there will say you’re doing it wrong.

You should always listen to the feedback. Sometimes there are insights or seeds of truth embedded within it.

But never allow someone else’s map of reality to dictate how you feel about your terrain.

Keep going. It's your path. You make the rules.