People’s opinion of you are their’s and not yours to manipulate. Sure, you can influence them by your actions, but you cannot dictate them. They will think of you however they think of you. When I was younger, I put a lot of value into what other people thought of me. I wanted to be well-regarded, it just seemed like a positive thing. After all, children in the United States tend to want to be president, and, to be president, you have to be regarded favorably by your peers. I never aspired to be president–because I wasn’t born here–but being well-regarded is a good thing and was something I aspired toward. When I was younger, I was curious about how to get people to see me in a favorable light because the immigration process has had many people automatically see me in a negative way. Were they just acting, because being genuinely disliked by your community is not a good thing.
Overall, there are both positive and negative ways to influence how people regard you. A way that isn’t seen as very favorable is to take the passive way, which I suppose is easier and less work. By being passive, you are sacrificing your own personal values and adopting those of others. In some ways, this can almost be seen as a form of dying because you are, in effect, sacrificing what you stand for, if anything, to the service of another being more powerful. The positive and more difficult way to go about influencing other’s opinions is to stand up for what you believe in and bear the criticisms that may come your way. Traditionally, this has been seen as a more masculine thing because it requires strength, but western society has progressed to the point that standing up for your belief(s) is now gender-neutral. The latter method requires a certain level of stubbornness, but it is the genuine way to make progress in society and the road you should take if you believe your intentions to be pure and your actions just.
The Ivory Tower 
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