You are probably going to run into a lot of people who tell you that your tactics/arguments/whatever do not convince them, and maybe they'll even tell you some specific way in which you should do it differently.

Don't waste your time on these people.

With that, I don't mean that you shouldn't develop an insight into the concerns of the broader population - you should *especially* learn about the concerns of people who are not in your direct social circles, because tunnel vision is a very real thing.

What I mean is that *these specific people* are not trying to be helpful - they are being *entitled*. They are defining (their perception of) your success by whether you are catering to *them, specifically, individually*. And they have already made up their mind that they don't agree with you, no matter what you do.

They are not activists, and even if they may have some notion of concerns among their social circles, they do not have the expertise in activism to turn that into the right solutions and tactics. They are not qualified advisors.

And usually you'll find that whatever tactic or argument they propose, it's something that allows them to more easily dismiss it - a tactic that is less disruptive, an argument that is a "compromise". Because they were never trying to help you make your activism a success; they were just trying to get rid of something that bothered them.

Activism is *supposed* to bother people - that is how things get changed. And contrary to apparently popular belief, it doesn't work by rationally convincing people (if only it were that easy...); it's a long-term process that involves steering public discourse, emotional responses, and so on. Often in ways that seem ineffective or counterproductive at first, but that have far-reaching and difficult-to-measure long-term effects.

You should of course find the tactics that work best for your cause; there is no universally effective strategy. But resist the temptation to follow the guidance of the least qualified and least engaged people in the room, however helpful it may sound on the surface.

Learn from experienced activists instead, inside and outside of your own cause.