Thick Skin: Here’s How You Develop It

There are few things more powerful than your own suit of armor.

In light of everything that exists, through all of time, the creation & destruction of the universe and everything within it, someone calling you stupid does not matter at all.

It seems a bit petty if anything, because the scales are just too different in size.

But while that may be true it may not make you feel any better.

While such comparisons help, if you compare on this grand a scale too often you will eventually also consider your life to not matter at all either.

The point here is that you begin to look at a bigger picture.

To develop thicker skin don’t become more defensive or averse to what people say, but rather find a greater source outside of them that brings you confidence. Find a bigger cause to rely upon.

Take for example a doctor who is saving lives every single day.

They are participating in nerve-wracking operations and are studying and practicing so much that they have become one of the most famous doctors in the world.

Do you think they will be brought down by someone calling them stupid? Do you think they will take as hard a hit when someone calls them fat or ugly?

Obviously, they might still care, but if they keep their focus on the positive changes their life brought, the tiny negative things that show up do not matter at all.

Or take a person who goes and does 8 hours of charity work every week helping people. Do you think they will be all that hurt when someone calls them uncaring?

This is how successful people deal with toxic comments and people.

Of course, those comments still hurt, but they do not nearly hurt as bad when you get 500 positive comments for every 1 negative one.

If you want to develop thicker skin make sure you do what matters most to you!

Find out what you think means the most in life, what you think makes people truly valuable in your eyes, and do exactly that.

Bring value to life that is on a completely different scale than the negative comments, emotions, and things people say to you.

You’ll be more accepting of the things others throw at you because it won’t matter in light of everything else that has happened in your life.

Originally published at http://quora.com.