Zekeriya Polat is a 20-year business veteran, entrepreneur and founder of many startups.
Early in my career, while juggling part-time jobs and a master’s degree, I cared way too much about what others thought. Was I friendly enough? Did my manager like me? Were my co-workers secretly judging my pizza-making skills?
Then it hit me—none of it mattered. I was making pizzas, not running a PR campaign. The job was simple: Take orders, make the pizza, don’t burn it. Customers didn’t care if I was employee-of-the-month; they just wanted a slice that didn’t taste like charcoal.
That lesson followed me into corporate life. At first, I believed that working hard was enough. Spoiler alert: It wasn’t. The higher you climb, the more the game changes. You can be the Mozart of spreadsheets, but if you don’t understand office politics, you’re just another face in the Zoom gallery. Suddenly, you’re judged on things that have nothing to do with your actual work—like who you know and whether you can survive a meeting where Olga from accounting won’t stop talking.
Most people waste energy on things that don’t move the needle. They stress over pointless details—like fine-tuning the font in their PowerPoint slides or wondering if their boss read their last WhatsApp. (They didn’t. They were too busy ignoring their 278 unread emails.)
If you want to win in business, stop paying attention to these distractions:
1. Other People’s Opinions And Office Gossip
You will never be universally liked. Even if you’re the office sweetheart, someone will find a reason to be annoyed. Maybe it’s your email sign-off. Maybe it’s your haircut. Maybe it’s the fact that you exist.
Bruce Lee is often credited with saying, “You will continue to suffer if you have an emotional reaction to everything said about you.” People will talk. Let them. Instead of wasting energy on their opinions, focus on results. Are you making an impact? Are you delivering value? Everything else is just background noise.
And while you’re at it, ignore any office theatrics. While Anna from admin may be plotting revenge over a stolen stapler, you should be climbing the ladder. You don’t have time for passive-aggressive emails and corporate drama.
Some opinions do matter, though. Learn to separate useful feedback from nonsense. If reliable people tell you your negotiation skills need work, listen. If your CEO hints that you should stop wearing pajamas on Zoom calls, consider it.
2. Pleasing Everyone
Trying to please everyone is like keeping a group chat alive—exhausting and ultimately pointless. The fastest way to burn out is by saying yes to everything. Learn to say no.
High performers know when to decline distractions and prioritize what actually matters. They choose high-impact work over busy work. So stop volunteering for the office birthday party committee if it’s eating into time you could use to land that promotion.
Instead of stretching yourself thin trying to be everything to everyone, be excellent at what matters. The people who move forward aren’t just the hardest workers; they put their energy into the right things.
3. Perfectionism
Perfection is the enemy of progress. If you wait until everything is flawless, you’ll never get anything done. Just ask any entrepreneur who launched a half-baked startup and still made millions.
Jeff Bezos once said that making decisions with 70% of the information is better than waiting for 100%. Why? Because speed beats perfection. If you hesitate, someone else will swoop in and take the opportunity you were overanalyzing.
This applies everywhere—whether you’re launching a product, writing an email or preparing a presentation. The ones who succeed know that execution beats endless planning.
The Secret To Actually Getting Ahead
So, it is very simple—stop caring about the noise. Focus on what actually moves the needle. It’s not about being the busiest person in the office; it’s about delivering results. You don’t win by obsessing over every detail, worrying about what people think or getting lost in office politics. You win by being intentional with your time and energy.
And remember, your time won’t be measured by the minutes you worked late but by the impact you made before the sun goes down.
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