The Courage to Be Disliked and Your Extraordinary Life Depends on It
- Brainz Magazine
- 3 hours ago
- 6 min read
Written by Dr. JC Doornick, Health Transformation Coach – Podcaster
Dr. JC Doornick is a leader in Health Transformation, sense making and the human I.R.S.-(Interface response system). After a spontaneous recovery from a life-threatening traumatic event, Dr. JC made it his lifelong commitment to pay forward his concepts and strategies to dramatically shift one's perspectives to reclaim control as the dominant creator of your reality.
Most of us have signed a silent contract that says, "I’ll dim my light if it means I get to belong." But what if that belonging was the very thing keeping you from becoming who you’re meant to be?
“It never ceases to amaze me. We all love ourselves more than others, yet we care more about their opinions than our own.” Marcus Aurelius
Welcome to another paradox of modern life: We crave individuality but fear rejection. We want to rise, but we’re terrified of standing alone. We talk about purpose, truth, and living authentically, but only if it fits neatly within the borders of social approval. You’ll never fully step into your power until you’re willing to be misunderstood or disliked.
To understand why this fear runs so deep, we have to go back to where it all began: the dawn of fear and the need for acceptance.
Rejection was death
Long before likes, comments, or the cancel culture, we were just human animals, tribal by nature, living in clans and hunting in packs. In those days, belonging wasn’t a luxury or about status; it was survival.
We needed each other to stay warm, find food, build shelter, and protect against prey threats. Being cast out of the group wasn’t just emotionally traumatic; it was fatal. The brain adapted to avoid this at all costs.
Acceptance became instinct. Rejection became your worst-case scenario.Much like we see in society today with overeating, due to eating as much as we could back then to survive any pending famine, that wiring never left us. It’s still there, quietly running beneath our conditioned minds, shaping how we show up, what we say, and which dreams we dare to chase. However, now, the tribe looks a little different.
From fire circles to feeds: The new survival game
Today, we’re not fending off sabertooth tigers in the wilderness. But we’re still scanning the horizon for threats – not from predators, but for approval.
The hunting grounds have become social media feeds. The currency isn’t food and water; it’s followers. The clan we fear being cast out from isn’t around the campfire anymore. Where we belong is decided by an algorithm.
So we curate, filter, and post what’s popular with the clan, not what’s true to ourselves. We stifle our dreams and silence our honest opinions because, deep down, we’re still afraid of being exiled, this time not from the village, but from social visibility and acceptance.
Fear hasn’t vanished. It’s evolved. Make sense?
We don’t die on the outside from social rejection now, but something inside us does.
That quiet voice. That crazy idea. That burning vision. That stroke of genius and true calling.
Smothered in exchange for safety, hoping society will accept and keep us warm.
The death of courage in a comparative reality
What’s at stake here? Our courage.
We trade originality for approval. We bury our true-born identities and gifts in exchange for views and likes. We let the dream flicker out like a dying campfire, justifying to ourselves that now isn’t the right time and that we’ll rise after being validated, accepted, and approved.
Here’s the truth! Validation doesn’t come before courage. It comes after. Make Sense?
You weren’t built to be a replica of what’s popular. You were designed to disrupt.
To create. To lead. To awaken. It’s what makes you, you.
Something you can’t accomplish while clinging to the safety of fitting in.
The courage to be disliked: Re-igniting your fire
The world doesn’t need more polished perfection. It needs more people willing to show up fully as they are- real, raw, and radiant.
That begins with the courage to be disliked, to post the thing that scares you, to share the truth that burns inside you, to walk alone for a while, until your truth becomes your torch and illuminates the path for others.
Here's what happens when you do:
At first, with arms crossed, people may roll their eyes. Then they talk from a place of fear that you have strayed from the herd. This is due to your courage, highlighting their lack of it. Then, they watch in astonishment and respect. Perhaps even claim that they knew it would work. And then, they follow.
The crowd you were afraid to upset will one day quote, repost, and preach what you once whispered to yourself in secret. Why? Because, unlike you, they are not armed with awareness. Still closed and rigid vs. open and curious.
As the great Albert Einstein said, “I’m not a genius, I’m just curious.”
This works only if you have the courage to go first. Only if you’re brave enough to be disliked long enough to become undeniable. They say “results don’t lie” but results require effort and hard work. And they require the courage to be disliked.
Stop asking for permission
This isn’t just about self-expression. It’s about awakening.
Unplugging from a system, a program for survival that no longer applies. It’s about running your Interface Response System (IRS) to dispute those reactive scripts your nervous system is running: the need to please, the fear of being judged, the impulse to shrink.
The IRS gives you back your power to observe the story, disrupt the pattern, and consciously choose a new interface with reality, where approval is icing on the cake, not a required ingredient. You are now led by your internal compass, not the clan.
The rise of you
You don’t need permission – you never did, and you don’t need mass acceptance to validate your calling. That’s not acceptance; it's falling in line behind someone else's goals and dreams.
You only need a heart full of grace and the willingness to shine your light, even while others look away.
Your actual work in this life isn’t to be liked. It’s to shine your own light, be on fire with your purpose and clarity, and lead with courage.
When you do, when you dare to go where others won’t, you give silent permission to others to do the same.
Wear a shirt that says “Breaking News, I don’t care!” Let them misunderstand you. Let them mock you. Let them scroll past your amazing and original post. One day, they’ll circle back and say…
“I didn’t get it initially, but you made it make sense.”
You’ll smile, not because you were accepted, but because you finally stopped needing to be. Then, break the chains of insanity and wake the sleepwalking masses by creating space for them, asking, “What amazing ideas do you have inside?”
That’s the courage that sets you free
Make sense?
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Dr. JC Doornick, Health Transformation Coach – Podcaster
Dr. JC Doornick is a leader in Health Transformation, sense making and the human I.R.S.-(Interface response system). After a spontaneous recovery from a life-threatening traumatic event, Dr. JC made it his lifelong commitment to pay forward his concepts and strategies to dramatically shift one's perspectives to reclaim control as the dominant creator of your reality. As the CEO of Doornick Enterprises, and the host of the Rise up with Dragon podcast, and co-founder of the Makes Sense Academy, his mission is to positively impact the world one perspective at a time.
