How Empathy Can Keep Other People’s Rudeness from Defining Your Day

In a recent LinkedIn post, Gary Vaynerchuk discusses how empathy and self-direction can help people respond to unkindness without letting it take over their mood. This article reports on Vaynerchuk’s post and its emphasis on focusing attention on one’s own conduct.

“Compassion and empathy for why people are rude or mean always helps it not be about you …”

Shifting attention away from the slight

Vaynerchuk’s first point is that another person’s rudeness may have causes that have little to do with the person receiving it. He suggests that considering those possible causes can create distance from the incident. Rather than treating an unkind exchange as a verdict on one’s own worth, readers can approach it with compassion and avoid making it personal.

The post does not explain why any particular person behaves rudely, nor does it argue that unkind behavior should be excused. Instead, Vaynerchuk presents empathy as a way to keep someone else’s conduct from dictating one’s response.

Putting effort into what you can control

Vaynerchuk also urges readers to direct their energy toward their own choices and behavior, rather than trying to manage how others receive or return their actions. As he writes:

“focusing on controlling how you roll and what you do and not putting much energy to how it’s received or reciprocated always leads to more joy and smiling ..”

That advice puts personal conduct at the center of the post. In Vaynerchuk’s view, people can choose how they show up even when they cannot control whether others respond positively. His formulation links that focus with greater joy, while leaving the meaning of “how you roll” open to each reader.

A personal observation, not a universal formula

Vaynerchuk frames the idea as something he focuses on and has observed in others. He writes:

“these are the things I focus on and see in others that tend to smile more too and mean it when they smile ..”

The claim is presented as his personal observation, not as evidence that empathy or emotional self-control will guarantee happiness in every circumstance. Its practical message is narrower: pay attention to one’s own actions, and try not to let the hope of reciprocation determine whether to act with care.

An invitation to carry the idea into the day

Vaynerchuk closes with a simple well-wish: “wishing you a joyful day.” That ending reinforces the post’s warm, informal tone. Across the short reflection, he connects compassion for others with a deliberate focus on personal behavior and suggests that both can make room for more sincere smiles.