5 Ways You Can Build Thick Skin

In the last blog I discussed the 3 reasons why some people do not possess thick skin and lack emotional strength.

I mentioned how some people were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, can't handle constructive criticism well and only are content with a 7th place trophy.

It's so important in today's world to have thick skin because that is one of the most vital elements to one's success.

Having a brick wall of a mind and an unbreakable spirit is a much needed asset to your personality.

A strong and sound mind along with complete control over your emotions can be your ultimate guide to overcoming any struggles life throws at you.

Lets talk about how you can in 5 result producing ways build thick skin!

1. Stay In Your Lane

This first slide may come off a surprise but hear me out, staying in your lane can actually help mold and build up your emotional resilience.

Most people who find themselves out of their lane often get in the most trouble and are more quickly to lose themselves.

When getting out of line and stepping outside your lane can possibly create emotional distress for you and people that are close to you.

Not staying in your lane can lead to a variety of problems for you, forcing you to lose control of your situation and lose sight of your objective mission.

If you are driving and you steer off from your lane to the opposite lane where drivers are going a different direction than you, then you will get into a pretty nasty accident.

You would be hurting another driver and hurting yourself in the process so you wouldn't just drive off to the opposite lane knowing whats going to be the likely outcome.

That's like putting your hand in hot boiled water and knowing you will get burned and still proceed to put your hand in hot boiling water!

The people who stay and operate within their lane are people who are not easily swayed emotionally or are not trying to run someones else lane.

Staying in your own lane simply means you are not bothered to compare yourself to others and in return could enhance your emotional thick skin because you are bold and confident to what you know and who you are and you refuse to let anybody tell you otherwise.

Always make sure you stay in your lane no matter how bumpy it is and no matter how smooth it is on the other side!

And it takes a thick-skinned person to withstand their lane that is bumpy!

2. Create Your Own Opportunities

It goes without saying that some people were more fortunate than others growing up.

Not everybody is going to be dealt with a perfect hand and thats just the truth.

However, by the time you graduate and turn the age you're parents kick you out the house is the time you start taking accountability in your life and the choices you make going forward.

So leaving mommy and daddy's house is a big leap of faith for any new adult entering the "real" world and in the real world opportunities are not going to come easy to you.

In fact finding an opportunity will be a challenge within itself and failing a handful of times on your own will really test your emotional strength.

Part of developing thick skin is having the courage to create your own opportunities even when things seem dull and uninspiring.

Just being able to assert yourself in situations and not being afraid to fail is already proof you are building thick skin.

Be assertive in your pursuit.

Instead of waiting for a handout, just create it one.

My dad always told me before he passed away, "If opportunity doesn't answer, then break down the door and seize it."

3. Live your Life Unapologetically

I don't think a lot of people understand what it truly means to live your life unapologetically, it means owning up to the man or woman you see in the mirror and living in you're truth.

Society has conditioned us to mimic others and to cast doubt on ourselves.

We feel as though who we are inside and out is never gonna be good enough for anybody.

Well with that mindset - YOUR PROBABLY RIGHT.

And guess what? You'll never be good enough for society.

Why? Because the people you are trying to be good enough for are people who aren't even good enough for themselves.

This may come off as vague but not everybody is going to be on your team, perhaps not anybody.

This is why it's so important to be your own person, one thing I learned in my dreadful years of high school is that the people who try to fit in are the ones who are apologizing for their imperfections while the people like me who stopped caring for fitting molds and trying to be cool enough just refused to apologize for anything.

I'm imperfect, yeah so what? That doesn't stop me from living my life and trying to apologize for me being me.

The people who are constantly apologizing for their character and their truth are just not emotionally strong people.

Now it'd be different if you said something out of line to another person and you deeply hurt their feelings, then yes apologize. But never for the human being you are, except if you have done dastardly and cruel things to people, then you have some fences to mend my friend.

Do whatever your mind, body and soul feels obligated to do.

Never live your life through the lenses of another person, believe in what you choose to believe, love what you wanna love and be who you were intended to be.

Stop explaining "you" to other people, stop explaining the way you "live" your life to strangers who can't even fathom the trials and tribulations you have endured.

You gotta master this part in order to developing thick skin.

My apologies will not be accepted anyway.

4. Prioritize Fitness

If these reasonable ways haven't helped you yet on how to build thick skin, not to worry.

Your most easiest and fastest way to enhance emotional strength is by exercising your body.

When you exercise, your not just working your muscles, you are also working your mind and spirit. Because if your mind and spirit isn't fully invested into fitness, then there goes the motivation.

Working out is the solution to feeling your best and looking your best.

How does this tie into developing thick skin, your probably wondering.

Certain jobs, tasks, duties and most importantly outgoing activities like sports require you to be in the best physical shape possible.

How well you perform in certain areas is based off how well you take care of the body.

Slackers never win.

Just waking up at 6 am in time to hit the weights is a sign of mental toughness.

The real battle is staying locked in mentally than it is physically.

Exercising can improve mental health by reducing anxiety, depression, and negative mood and by improving self-esteem and cognitive function.

In general, staying in tip-top peak physical condition can prepare you for all that life has in store for you and the mental resiliency to combat any type of stress.

This can also increase optimal self-confidence.

5. Kill The Haters With Kindness

The last step on how to truly become thick-skinned is to kill these haters with kindness.

Run 'em over with a mat truck if you have too - and I do mean that mentally, don't run over anybody!

The litmus test to see how you are going to thrive out in the real world all comes down to see how you handle the 'naysayers.'

You not only have to deal with haters in public, although it is rare nowadays that you do.

But the verbal barrages usually stem from who I like to call the infamous "keyboard warriors."

Whether if you a prankster on YouTube or inspiring millions on your channel, you will face hate and rude comments from strangers.

You will deal with cyberbullies and internet trolls that will nitpick your every move and find humor in your misfortunes, that's just the nature of the internet world nowadays.

If you are an aspiring content creator that wants to have a following and a fan base that rocks with you, then do not let the negative and harsh side of social media prevent you from chasing the dream.

Don't let the darkness of someone else's reality shade over your shining light!

Becoming successful and popular in the online world requires you to be diligent and confident in your ability and the mental strength to block out the haters.

I've only been a YouTuber and a Podcast host for a year and a half and I'm working on developing a little following of my own and one thing about me is that before I went ahead and started recording and making videos, I was already becoming an emotionally strong willed person that overcame anything obstacle.

I'm naturally a nonchalant person and easily detached myself from certain emotions that others just cannot do.

Any negative comments that come my way - I first analyse the person that sent the comment and then second - simply deflect it with kindness.

The reason why people are so committed to this hater's lifestyle is because they most likely have nothing of importance happening in their bubble that remotely makes them half the interesting person that you are.

Another reason is they are going through tough times of their own right now and simply don't have the awareness to deal with their own baggage.

Just know that, hurt people hurt people.

To put it bluntly, if you can't handle the fire then maybe you should of never bought the gasoline in the first place.

So look, if you wanna become an online influence and a motivational speaker, then you have to have thick skin to do it!

You gotta learn that this type of thing comes with the territory and you can't be scared to stand your ground if you have to against haters.

From my perspective, if these haters and trolls aren't saying anything meaningful or relevant then I don't find it worth my time nor energy.

Some people just wanna be in your position.

But the most impactful and effective way to shut a hater up is to kill them with kindness.

Apply these 5 things to your everyday life in which you do and I have no doubt in my mind that you will be an unstoppable force mentally and emotionally to withstand this harsh world going forward.

Thanks for reading!