How To Become More Thick Skinned

How to Develop a Thick Skin

Wouldn't information technology be great if y'all could hear criticism on an nigh daily-ground, and but brush information technology off? Having a thick skin allows you to continue on with your work and life without worrying what other people have to say, as y'all are comfortable in your own skin.

Having a thick skin is a positive character trait. There is a measure of self-reliance around people who have developed a thick skinned personality; they're not put off by the ups and downs of life, every bit they know that your words or actions can't touch them.

In this post I'm going to await at what it means to have a thick skin, the divergence between a thick peel vs. sparse peel, and I'll end on my seven tips on how to grow a thick skin and then you can increase your mental toughness and generally go more successful in work and life.

Definition of Thick Peel

If someone is said to accept a thick peel this means that they are able to keep themselves from getting upset, offended, or disturbed by whatsoever criticisms virtually or sick behavior toward themselves or those they care most.

While some people are born with a thick skinned personality, most of us have to learn how to develop one over time. If yous've ever been the victim of a character assassination you'll know how important information technology is that you don't let every little criticism affect you.

Thick Pare vs. Sparse Skin

Having a thick skin vs. sparse skin is essential if you lot piece of work in a field in which criticism is a common occurrence.

Some fields hither are obvious. When I wrote my first story for HuffPost the comments on the article itself and, to a greater extent, the Facebook posts accompanying it, were extremely negative. Having a thick skin vs. thin skin in this situation was crucial, and while I can't say I took none of the comments to heart, reading them certainly toughened me upwardly when, a few years later on, my kickoff piece in the New York Times came out to positive reviews except, again, in the comments on the Facebook posts accompanying it.

If y'all work in a service jobs such as waiting tables and other client-facing professions in which you have to bargain with people—some of whom may not be in the best frame of listen—on a daily basis, you volition too need to develop a thick skin vs. thin peel.

How to Grow a Thick Skin

Learning how to grow a thick pare is one of the most important things you can practise for your career if you want to (or already do) work in a field that, equally discussed above, is ripe for providing criticism at every plow.

While being thin skinned isn't the end of the world, it does mean that experiencing criticism is harder for you lot than for those who take adult a thicker skin. Accept you ever put yourself out there, at school, piece of work, or even at a family gathering, and, having felt an air of disapproval at the end of the feel, dwelled on this feeling for many days later? If you have, you could benefit from growing a thicker peel.

Here are 7 tips on how to grow a thick skin:

Don't take criticism to middle. Whether you're existence criticised in the workplace or at dwelling house, don't take it to heart. While some people enjoy criticising others just "considering," recall that in nigh cases the criticism is an opportunity for you lot to acquire from what is being said, and grow as a result of it.
Presume that other people are having a bad solar day. I read in one case that whenever a babe cries nosotros instinctively presume that they're feeling a certain emotion (often hunger or tiredness). One way to build a thick peel is to assume that anyone yous're interacting with is having a bad solar day, and taking their words with a grain of salt.
Don't accept rejection personally. You didn't go through to the adjacent circular in a job interview? Oh well. Someone "ghosts" yous after 1 appointment? It's their loss. Learning how to toughen up and not take rejection personally will alter your whole outlook on life for the amend.
Whenever you hear no, imagine y'all heard "No, but…" Following on from the last tip, whenever you're rejected from a task interview, project request, or anything else in which you were excited to potentially be a office of, consider the rejection as a style to pivot and move forrad in another direction.
Put it all into perspective. Life is as well short to feel slighted at every turn. When you grow a thick skin you quickly realize how much stuff yous were taking to heart before, and how much of it was entirely unnecessary. Don't worry, exist happy, and the residuum will take care of itself.

When you develop a thick skin you can finally view life through an unobstructed lens, and react to those effectually you lot appropriately. I hope my tips on how to abound a thick skin have been helpful to you lot.

If you're interested in hearing more than from me, be sure to subscribe to my gratuitous email newsletter, and if you enjoyed this article, please share it on social media, link to it from your website, or bookmark information technology so you tin come up dorsum to it ofttimes. ∎

Benjamin Spall is the co-author of My Morning Routine (Portfolio/Penguin). He has written for outlets including the New York Times, New York Observer, Quartz, Entrepreneur, Business Insider, CNBC, and more.

Spall, B. (2019, November 14). How to Develop a Thick Skin. Retrieved from https://benjaminspall.com/thick-skin/