How to Become a Strong Person

I have been pampered all my life. I haven’t been exposed to the harsh realities and bitter truths of life. So when I became an adult, I was scrambling and got the shock of my life as my experiences started getting tougher and I didn’t have the strength to face them. I didn’t have control over my reactions. I didn’t know how to make decisions or solve problems. I realized, wow, I am weak.

So how to become a strong person? How do I make my spirit stronger, so I can handle any stressful situation? How do I develop a strong personality? Here are some things I vowed to always remember:

1. I will encounter a lot of different types of people in this world. No matter how sincere, kind or caring a person is, I have to remember that that person will always be more interested in his “own problems” than in mine. Therefore, I can’t depend on anyone. So I have to learn to stand up for myself and to rely on myself to get me to where I need to go.
2. I have to remember that I can never please everyone. This is a hard one to swallow. Because who wants to feel rejected? We all want to be liked. It’s human nature. But let’s face it. It’s impossible to please everyone. There will always be someone who will judge you and criticize you and say you are wrong and you’re choosing the wrong path. I have to remember to not take it personally and just take in constructive criticism and do what I love. As long as I am not hurting anyone, I can do as I please and live my life the way I want to.
3. The world owes me nothing, but I have a responsibility to contribute and give value to the world. I have to stop adopting the victim mindset where everyone owes me something because I will just be disappointed. Being a victim makes me weak. It’s not an attribute of a strong person. I have two options: I can spend my entire life pining about how I deserve more, or I can start contributing and being of service and taking everything that is given to me and being grateful for blessings and experiences.
4. I need to stop making excuses. I can spend my whole life lamenting that I do not have enough time, money, strength or resources to achieve my goals. I am most guilty of this. Everything I say may be true, but the harsh truth is that every single person in this world has at least one damn good excuse not to move towards the life that he wants. People who get ahead, ignore their excuses. They find ways, better yet, they MAKE ways to overcome their limitations and excuses.
5. I will be judged for my actions, not my ideas or thoughts. I can be the person who has the most creative imagination but until I go out there and actually start doing something, all my ideas won’t matter. Big thinkers and visionaries are great, but until it is accompanied by actions, it is useless.
6. No one will come and save me from my own life. This is the one thing I wish I could have. To have a knight and shining armor sweep me off my feet and lead me to my dream life and bring me a miracle. When we are unhappy with our life, we wish that someone will miraculously appear and fix all our problems. But the truth is, that kind of thing doesn’t happen in real life. Maybe to a lucky few, but I know that if I want to see changes in my life, I have to work on them myself. Instead of waiting for that knight in shining armor, I would have to put on an armor, climb my own horse and save myself.

So how to become a strong person? If I take these points to heart, build more confidence and love myself more and stop expecting from others, I will have made myself a strong person. I can’t wait till that day comes. For now, I have a lot of work to do.