Former UCLA Men’s Basketball Coach John Wooden has a Socrates-like Ted Talk where he shares an important distinction between character and reputation: Character is who you are, whereas reputation is how others perceive you. It’s something that has stuck with me, especially in hard times. So many of us are overly concerned with our reputations, which, in reality, we don’t control. A reputation can ruin a lifetime of character. Yet, how much does reputation actually matter? And what’s more, should we focus on it? Let’s dig in.