Lupita Nyong'o remembers the worst career advice she received after her 2014 Oscar win

Lupita Nyong'o followed her own instincts despite others having different ideas for her career.

It’s been a decade since the A Quiet Place: Day One star won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her debut role in 12 Years a Slave. Now 41, Nyong'o tells PEOPLE that the award significantly raised expectations for her.

"It definitely put the pressure on," she says. "It was my first movie, and now I had received what is considered the pinnacle of one's achievement as an actor. ... So there I was like, 'Okay, what happens now? I can't afford to fail.' "

Many people in the industry had suggestions for Nyong'o's next steps. What was the worst career advice she received at that time?

"That I needed to seize the day and do bigger. That the next thing after 12 Years of Slave needed to be a lead role in a blockbuster movie." She adds of her perspective, "It wasn't about the size of the role, it's about the quality of the role, at least for me."

A conversation with Emma Thompson, another Oscar winner, "really set me straight," says Nyong'o. 

"She said, 'You have to live your life the way you think is suitable. You have to listen to your own intuition.' Even up until that point, there was no formula that I followed, so there had to be no formula moving forward," says Nyong'o.