People don’t know what to do, when you don’t care what they think about you.
I recommend building a realistic solid idea of yourself, that way, it is very difficult to take seriously ideas of you that are inconsistent with it.

Their projections are not your concern.

Building a solid idea of yourself involves looking at yourself honestly.
It involves acknowledging the flaws you pretend is everyone else’s fault.
It requires understanding what makes you jealous, and insecure.
And it humbles you to see yourself as vulnerable to conditioning.

You have to be honest with yourself. And you must stop feeling boxed in by who you and others, have defined you to be.
You are capable of changing, of working on yourself and fixing your flaws.
You can become someone you truly love and admire, whose growth you are proud of.

Who you are and who you want to be is in your control.
And to be successful at being who you want, you do have to distance yourself from people who are content seeing you in a light that isn’t who you know you are, and who bulk at changes you try to make to improve yourself.

It’s so important to surround yourself with people who are encouraging of changes you are applying in your life. Who even tell you that they notice your growth.
You need that type of support and belief in your growth, to grow even further.
Most of all, you need to believe it.

Once you are comfortable in your self definition, and are living as the person you want to be, people’s projections become no longer your concern.
You will realize that they hold onto them because they feel the loss of their power over you, & need something to feel important.

You can’t let yourself be swayed by what people think about you, both good and bad.
Your idea of yourself is what matters, it will be what keeps you grounded if the good opinions turn to bad, and it will be what keeps you mindful even if the bad opinions turn to good.

Also, constantly practice being your main source of validation.
The truth is, as well meaning as people are, there is only so much validation majority are willing to give, and that is because most of us are too self preserving to want to see people we know do better than us.

I recognize in myself a tendency to require validation in return from the people I love to validate. And I’m ridding myself of that need going forward.
I want to always give support because I find folks worthy of it.
The growth in myself/life are all the validation I need.