True success isn’t just about reaching new heights, it’s about knowing how to let go of the negativity that comes with it. The higher you rise, the more you’ll attract attention, both positive and negative. Some will cheer for you. Others will criticize, compare, or resent your growth.

In this article, you’ll learn how to let go of external judgment, maintain emotional balance, and stay grounded in your purpose no matter what others say.

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Why Letting Go Matters

When you grow, you evolve, and that evolution often makes others uncomfortable. Growth disrupts familiarity. It forces the people around you to see what’s possible, and sometimes that reflection stings. Not everyone is ready to confront their own stagnation, so they do what’s easiest: criticize those who are moving forward.

Criticism, rejection, and even humiliation are not signs that you’re doing something wrong, they’re evidence that you’re expanding. The moment you step out of conformity, you stand out. And standing out always attracts opinions. But here’s the key insight: what people project onto you is a mirror of their internal world, not an assessment of your worth.

Psychologists call this projection bias, when individuals displace their own fears, insecurities, and frustrations onto others. If someone feels powerless, your confidence will look like arrogance. If they feel stuck, your progress will feel like a threat. It’s not personal; it’s psychological.

If you internalize their criticism, you feed it. You give their insecurities power over your peace. But when you learn how to let go, you reclaim that energy. Letting go doesn’t mean you stop caring, it means you stop carrying what isn’t yours.

As Jeffery Combs elegantly said, “Truly humble and grounded people are immune to rejection, criticism, and humiliation.

That kind of grounded humility is strength disguised as serenity. When you’re anchored in your purpose, you don’t need to prove yourself. You can observe instead of react, respond instead of defend. That’s where true peace, and power begins.

Letting go is not apathy; it’s awareness. It’s emotional maturity in action. It’s the ability to stay calm, focused, and grounded while others spiral in judgment or insecurity. Because at the end of the day, those who remain grounded in their truth can’t be shaken by the noise around them.

When you let go, you don’t lose control, you gain it. You stop being a prisoner to external approval and become the architect of your inner freedom.

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The Hidden Reason People Criticize You

Here’s a truth most people never talk about: when others can’t control your energy, they’ll try to control the story about you. It’s a defense mechanism, one rooted in ego, insecurity, and fear. When you grow beyond people’s expectations, it forces them to confront what they haven’t done yet. Your progress becomes their mirror, reflecting everything they’ve avoided facing.

Success exposes the emotional fractures in others. It challenges their comfort zones, and instead of expanding with you, some will try to pull you back down to where they feel safe. That’s why the moment you start leveling up, financially, emotionally, or spiritually, you’ll notice subtle shifts in how certain people treat you. Suddenly, your wins are “luck,” your confidence is “arrogance,” and your leadership is “ego.”

But let’s call it what it is… projection.

Psychologically speaking, projection is when people take the traits they dislike in themselves and assign them to others. It’s much easier to criticize your boldness than to admit they’ve been living in fear. It’s easier to downplay your discipline than to face their own lack of consistency. In other words, criticism is often self-directed pain disguised as judgment.

Then there’s the deeper layer: narcissists and emotionally manipulative personalities. They don’t just criticize out of insecurity, they criticize to control. For them, your success disrupts the unspoken hierarchy they’ve built in their minds. They need to feel superior to maintain their false sense of power. So they’ll gaslight, undermine, and provoke just to get a reaction out of you. Because as long as you react, they still have control.

The solution? Don’t give them what they want.

Detachment is your greatest weapon. The moment you stop defending yourself, you starve their need for attention. When you refuse to argue, explain, or prove, they lose access to your emotional energy, their favorite fuel.

So breathe. Release. Let go.

You don’t need to justify your growth. You don’t owe explanations to those committed to misunderstanding you. True freedom begins when you realize you have nothing to prove and no one to convince. Critics can talk all they want, but they can’t touch a person who’s mastered emotional detachment.

That’s the power of learning how to let go, you stop reacting and start rising.

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How To Let Go – The Science

Learning how to let go isn’t just spiritual advice, it’s backed by decades of neuroscience, psychology, and physiology. Letting go is a biological process as much as it is an emotional one. When you cling to resentment, criticism, or anxiety, your body literally stays trapped in survival mode.

The Stress Response and the Body’s Chemistry: The brain’s limbic system, especially the amygdala, plays a central role in processing emotional threats. When you hold on to anger or replay painful events, your amygdala keeps firing, signaling your adrenal glands to release stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. This constant activation keeps your body in a chronic fight-or-flight state, elevating blood pressure, increasing inflammation, and impairing digestion, sleep, and focus.

In contrast, studies published in journals like Frontiers in Psychology and Psychoneuroendocrinology show that practicing emotional release and mindfulness lowers cortisol levels and increases serotonin and dopamine production, the chemicals responsible for calm, clarity, and motivation. Letting go literally changes your biochemistry.

When you stop replaying criticism and emotional pain, your brain moves out of survival mode and into creation mode. The prefrontal cortex. the part of your brain responsible for logic, creativity, and decision-making, comes back online. That’s why people who practice detachment consistently report sharper thinking, better problem-solving, and deeper emotional stability.

Neuroplasticity and Emotional Freedom: Letting go is also a neurological process. The brain is plastic, meaning it can rewire itself based on repeated thoughts and behaviors. When you constantly revisit anger or self-defense, you reinforce those neural pathways. But when you consciously release them, by observing your emotions without judgment, you weaken the old circuits and strengthen new ones that support peace and emotional balance.

Over time, your brain learns that you don’t need to react, you can respond. That’s emotional freedom in action. You move from automatic, fear-based responses to intentional, grounded awareness.

Letting Go Without Suppression: Letting go isn’t the same as suppression. Suppression pushes emotions down, letting go releases them consciously. When you suppress, the emotion stays trapped in your nervous system and resurfaces later as anxiety, tension, or even illness. When you let go, you process it.

Here’s how to do it…

Observe the emotion without judgment. Notice it, name it, and allow it to exist.

Understand what it’s trying to tell you. Every emotion carries data, fear warns, anger protects, sadness releases.

Release it through awareness, breath, or movement. Once you acknowledge the message, the emotion no longer needs to control you.

This is what Harvard researchers refer to as “emotional granularity”, the ability to precisely identify and process emotions, which improves both mental and physical well-being.

When you learn how to let go, you’re not abandoning your emotions; you’re mastering them. You move from being a victim of your reactions to the creator of your inner state.

And that’s the highest form of success, the ability to stay peaceful, present, and powerful, no matter what’s happening around you.

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My Personal Experience With Letting Go

I’ve lived enough life to know that success doesn’t come easy, and peace doesn’t come without pain.

Before I ever became a leader, entrepreneur, or coach, I was a kid growing up in a chaotic, unpredictable home. Trauma wasn’t something I read about in a book, it was something I lived. I learned early on what it felt like to be unseen, to walk on eggshells, and to hold everything inside just to survive. Those experiences shaped me, but they also taught me the first real lesson about letting go, that holding on to pain, resentment, or the need for approval only keeps you trapped in the same story you’re trying to escape.

When I joined the military, that lesson deepened. I found myself in combat zones where every second demanded focus, discipline, and emotional control. You learn quickly that fear can’t lead you. You can’t afford to dwell on what just happened or what might go wrong, you have to let go, breathe, and stay centered in the moment, or you don’t make it home.

After leaving the Air Force, life didn’t suddenly get easier. There were moments when everything fell apart, times I was nearly homeless, unsure where I’d land next. The structure and security of the military were gone, and I had to rebuild from nothing. But that season stripped me of ego. It forced me to release the illusion of control and trust the process.

Through it all, the childhood trauma, the combat stress, the uncertainty of starting over, I learned something that no book or seminar could ever teach: peace is a choice. Letting go isn’t weakness; it’s strength. It’s the discipline to stop carrying what’s already behind you.

Early in my career as an entrepreneur, I used to take every criticism personally. I wanted everyone to believe in my vision, to see my heart, to understand my intentions. But I learned the hard way that emotional attachment to other people’s opinions is self-sabotage. It drains your focus and dilutes your power.

When I finally learned how to let go, truly let go, everything changed. I became calmer, clearer, and more focused. My success multiplied, but more importantly, my peace deepened. I stopped needing validation and started operating from conviction. That’s the real power of detachment: when you no longer seek approval, you start living in alignment.

I share this not as theory, but as proof. No matter where you are, whether you’re fighting old battles in your mind, rebuilding from rock bottom, or facing criticism for your success, letting go is the doorway to your next level.

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Final Thoughts On How To Let Go

At the end of the day, success will test your emotional strength just as much as your skills. The higher you climb, the more resistance you’ll face, not just from others, but from within. The ability to let go, of criticism, control, and the need for approval, is what separates those who are grounded in peace from those who crumble under pressure.

Letting go isn’t about giving up. It’s about releasing what no longer serves your growth, the stories, the expectations, the people, and the fears that keep you small. Because here’s the truth: you can’t reach your next level if you’re still holding on to what was meant for a previous version of you.

So ask yourself…

Who or what am I still giving power to that no longer deserves it?

The moment you release it, you rise above it. You stop reacting and start leading. You begin to live, love, and succeed on your own terms. That’s when peace and power coexist, not as fleeting moments, but as your new normal.

Learning how to let go isn’t easy, especially when your past includes trauma, loss, or betrayal. But it’s possible and it’s teachable. I know, because I’ve lived it. From combat zones to near homelessness to rebuilding my life from the ground up, I’ve learned how to turn pain into power and chaos into clarity.

And now, I teach others to do the same.

If you’re struggling to find peace, to stop replaying the same emotional cycles, or to break free from the need for validation, I can help you realign. For over 17 years, I’ve studied human behavior, emotional resilience, and the science of mindset transformation. I’ve helped countless people release what’s been holding them back and step into a higher level of clarity, confidence, and purpose.

That’s why I’m offering a FREE 20-minute coaching session (valued at $175) where we’ll work together to identify what you’re holding on to that’s draining your energy, build a practical strategy to release emotional weight and reclaim focus, and create a personal framework for peace and alignment, one you can sustain.

Because when you master how to let go, you don’t just protect your peace, you unlock your power.

Click here to book your free 20-minute coaching session and let’s start turning the pain you’ve carried into the strength that carries you forward.

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