The world is rooting for you

When Sawan Kumar started doing well — building a business, gaining visibility, teaching what was working — he braced for what he had been told to expect: the jealousy, the criticism, the people trying to tear him down. He had heard enough success stories that included that chapter. He knew the script.

What he got instead surprised him.

Messages saying, "You inspire me." People saying, "I'm rooting for you." Strangers from countries he had never visited sending notes of genuine encouragement. The picture he had of how success would be received turned out to be wrong — not because the world has no critics, but because the critics are a small, loud minority, and behind them is a much larger, quieter majority that is genuinely cheering for you.

Why We Expect the Worst — And Why We're Usually Wrong

The fear of being judged, criticised, or resented for succeeding is one of the most common hidden barriers to entrepreneurial action. It appears in different forms: the reluctance to post publicly, the hesitation to raise prices, the tendency to downplay achievements to avoid standing out. Underneath each of these behaviours is a shared belief — that the people around you would rather see you fail than succeed.

This belief has evolutionary roots. Human social groups historically operated as zero-sum systems: if one member rose significantly above the group, it could mean fewer resources for others. The social brain evolved to be sensitive to signs of resentment and rejection from the group — to keep individuals from straying too far from the norm. This was adaptive 10,000 years ago. In the context of building a business and sharing your work with the internet, it is an outdated threat-detection system that fires false alarms constantly.

The data does not support the fear. Most people — genuinely, measurably — want others to succeed. Psychological research on emotional contagion consistently shows that witnessing others' success triggers positive motivation in the majority of observers. The minority that responds with envy is real but statistically small. The majority is quietly rooting for you, even if they rarely say so.

The Quiet Supporters: Who Is Actually in Your Corner

When Sawan describes getting messages of encouragement from unexpected places, he is pointing to something real about how support works in professional life. It is rarely the loudest voices or the closest relationships that provide the most meaningful encouragement. It is often:

• People watching from a distance — former colleagues, acquaintances, people who went to school with you — who are following your journey without ever commenting publicly but who notice every milestone.

• People earlier in the same journey — aspiring entrepreneurs, people who want to do what you have done but haven't started yet — for whom your progress is proof that the path exists.

• People in adjacent fields — professionals in related industries who appreciate your expertise, share your values, and see your success as reflective of theirs in some way.

• People who have been quietly helped by your work — readers, viewers, students, clients who have benefited from something you created but never told you directly.

These people are real. They are numerous. And they are almost entirely invisible to you unless you create the work, share it publicly, and give them something to root for.

The Practical Implication: Create and Share Without Waiting for Permission

The philosophical point has a direct practical application: most of the friction preventing entrepreneurs and professionals from taking visible action is imaginary. The audience that exists on the other side of "what will people think?" is — in the large majority — supportive, curious, and inspired.

The practical translation of this insight:

Post the content you have been sitting on. The LinkedIn article you wrote but never published, the YouTube video you filmed but never uploaded, the offer you designed but never launched — the fear that these will be received badly is almost certainly overestimated. The much more likely outcome is that some people will find them valuable, some will become followers, and a small number will become paying clients. The people who criticise you are either not your audience or not your problem.

Raise your prices. The fear of being resented for charging more is real but misplaced. Clients who value your work will respect pricing that reflects that value. Clients who resent a fair price increase were not good clients. The people you want to work with — the right clients — are not rooting against your success. They are rooting for you.

Share your journey, including the hard parts. Authenticity — sharing what is genuinely difficult alongside what is going well — creates deeper connection than polished highlight reels. The audience that responds to "here is a problem I am working through" is larger and more engaged than the audience for "here is how perfect my business is." Sawan's transparency about the real income breakdown, the real challenges, the real lessons — is what builds genuine community, not polished performance.

What to Do When the Critics Are Loud

This is not a call to naivety. Critics exist. Some of them are specific, personal, and difficult. The realistic posture:

Distinguish between feedback and noise. A critic who engages with your specific work and offers a substantive perspective is worth listening to — even if it is uncomfortable. A critic who attacks your character, dismisses your entire body of work, or clearly does not understand what you are doing is noise. Both types exist. The skill is telling them apart without letting either type set the agenda for your work.

Understand that criticism is a sign of visibility, not failure. The people who receive no criticism are the people creating nothing visible. Criticism, in this sense, is a confirmation that your work is reaching enough people to generate a range of reactions. The goal is not zero criticism — it is meaningful work that generates real responses.

Focus on the quiet majority. For every critic, there are ten people who found your content helpful, inspiring, or relevant but never said so. The comments section is not representative. The DMs from people who say "I've been following your journey for two years and finally reached out" are closer to the truth of how people experience your work.