When you feel unappreciated, you could think, well, that's because what I'm doing isn't all that good. Or you could think, I'm not bucking to silent expectation and unvoiced, possibly imaginary rejection. I follow my light.

The funny thing? They're both perfectly legitimate reactions.

Don't let someone tell you it's straightforward to grok the difference between where one is needed ("what I'm doing sucks, let's improve this") more and the other is needed ("to hell with your judgments") more, unless they give you a straightforward method for differentiating, one that you can safely test.

Sometimes you need to up your game. In fact, that might not feel good, but it's almost always good advice. So follow your light, but also up your game.