Every time you need their approval, you slide them the car keys. Keep driving your own life.

Needing a particular person’s approval hands them influence over decisions that are yours. It is rarely deliberate on anyone’s part, but once your sense of whether something was right depends on their reaction, you start choosing with them in mind and the choices stop being fully your own. Whoever supplies the verdict is doing some of your steering.

Make one decision this week without telling the person whose opinion you usually seek. See whether you can work out for yourself if it was good. Their view can be a consideration without being the deciding vote.