--- title: Cara Delevingne: Why Other People's Approval Isn't Important description: Cara Delevingne writes about how she learned that success comes in many forms. canonical: https://time.com/4249926/cara-delevingne-approval/ author: Cara Delevingne article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-09T12:00:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:01:58.517Z og:title: Cara Delevingne: ‘Getting Others’ Approval Isn’t the Most Important Thing’ og:description: How the actress and model learned that success comes in many forms og:url: https://time.com/4249926/cara-delevingne-approval/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7bb5dc37f8298d41/69888a03cf40a83e9fc424e1/cara-delevigne-approval-advice.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: cara-delevigne-approval-advice og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Cara Delevingne: ‘Getting Others’ Approval Isn’t the Most Important Thing’ twitter:description: How the actress and model learned that success comes in many forms twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7bb5dc37f8298d41/69888a03cf40a83e9fc424e1/cara-delevigne-approval-advice.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Cara Delevingne: ‘Getting Others’ Approval Isn’t the Most Important Thing’ > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays to 40,000 subscribers as of August 2026. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Cara Delevingne](https://time.com/author/cara-delevigne/) ## Cara Delevingne Mar 9, 2016 12:00 PM UTC  Julian Parker—UK Press/Getty Images by [Cara Delevingne](https://time.com/author/cara-delevigne/) ## Cara Delevingne Mar 9, 2016 12:00 PM UTC I started modeling when I was 16\. The odds were against me. At 5’8″, I was shorter than most girls in the business. Still, I gave it a shot, and like with most things in my life, I never gave up. It took a while before I had stability in the business. I worked hard to be accepted by the fashion community in ways beyond my physical appearance. In no time, though, I found myself surrendering to the industry’s approval process. I felt like I needed validation from everyone. As a result, I lost sight of myself and what it meant to be happy, what it meant to be successful. I think it all stemmed from a deep-down feeling of wanting people to like me and love me. When you do everything you can to make people happy with your work but there are still people who aren’t happy, you start to think, “Well, I’ve worked my a\*\* off. I’ve done everything. I’ve pushed myself into the ground.” You just feel like you’re constantly disappointing others, and there’s this moment when you’re like, “Wait, what am I trying to do? Who am I doing this for?” Over time, I came to realize that work and getting others’ approval isn’t the most important thing. Yes, your career is very important—but it’s not the most important. Of course I was proud of my accomplishments, but I wasn’t genuinely happy. **_Read more:_** [_4 Ways to Make Positive Change Actually Happen in Your Life_](http://motto.time.com/4248238/change-action/) I was nearly 20 and had been modeling for several years. My vantage point had changed…and I had changed. I knew I had to reevaluate my life and my goals for my future. I didn’t want to resent fashion or my success. The process didn’t happen overnight, but it was imperative for me to preserve my integrity. It’s taken time, but now I realize that work isn’t everything and success comes in many forms. I’ve opened my mind, and now I embrace new things with a childlike curiosity. I’m spending more time doing the stuff I love. And I’ve been able to do better work because of it. **_Read more:_** [_Gina Rodriguez: I Look Like Me, and That’s Good Enough_](http://motto.time.com/4196066/gina-rodriguez-body-image/) When you’re coming from a place of living just to work, it’s never as good as you want it to be. It’s never as authentic. When you have balance in your life, work becomes an entirely different experience. There is a passion that moves you to a whole new level of fulfillment and gratitude and that’s when you can do your best…for yourself and for others. I still have so much to learn, but I have realized that beating myself up, feeling guilty and regretting past mistakes will only hold me back. After all, no matter how many people like you and your work, it doesn’t matter if you don’t like yourself. _Cara Delevingne is a model and actress._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4249926/cara-delevingne-approval/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4249926/cara-delevingne-approval/"},"headline":"Cara Delevingne: ‘Getting Others’ Approval Isn’t the Most Important Thing’","datePublished":"2016-03-09T12:00:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:01:58.517Z","description":"Cara Delevingne is a model and actress.","url":"https://time.com/4249926/cara-delevingne-approval/","keywords":["motto","fashion","Style","advice","Cara Delevingne","modeling"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7bb5dc37f8298d41/69888a03cf40a83e9fc424e1/cara-delevigne-approval-advice.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cara Delevingne","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cara-delevigne/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7bb5dc37f8298d41/69888a03cf40a83e9fc424e1/cara-delevigne-approval-advice.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"cara-delevigne-approval-advice","caption":"","creditText":"Julian Parker—UK Press/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4249926/cara-delevingne-approval/","name":"Cara Delevingne: ‘Getting Others’ Approval Isn’t the Most Important Thing’"}}]}] ```