“the thing that that makes makes it so much easier I feel to find your own path or to go your own path is to surround yourself with people who have the same kind of goals... who don't need you to defend your things to them because they understand them”

Surround yourself with people you don't have to defend your direction to

If every conversation about your business requires justifying that the work is real / valid / worth doing, you're burning the founder energy you need for actual work. Curate a small circle (mastermind, peer chat, founder friends) where the premise is already accepted and the conversation gets to skip straight to substance. Keep the contrarians and opposing-view inputs separate from your daily emotional support layer.