Yes most times giving a deaf ears to other peoples opinion of you, is one of the ways to keep you on track in reaching your goal.
Because in this life, people must talk about you both the good and bad.

Talking about settling for less, I don't give into that. It's mediocrity, it makes us not reach and maximize our full potential.

And finally failure doesn't mean it has ended. I don't see failure as something bad.
To me failure is important in this life. It helps us to get better, to know which way and how to solve a problem.