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What I Learned From People Who Tried to Break Me
By someone who’s been there, sat with it, and learned how to stand up again.
Let me be honest with you: I wasn’t always good at handling criticism. In fact, for a long time, I used to crumble under it.
The first time someone criticized my work, I remember physically shrinking in my seat. My brain shut down, my chest tightened, and all I could think was, They hate me.
It wasn’t just feedback; I took it as a full-blown personal attack. A simple suggestion felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to my self-worth.
But somewhere between those early rejections and now, I learned something that changed everything: there is an art to taking criticism, taunts, and even abuse and not just surviving it but using it.
1. Understanding the Source
This was the first lesson I had to learn. Not all voices deserve the same weight.
Constructive criticism from someone who respects me and wants me to grow? That’s gold.
Passive-aggressive digs from people who don’t know my story? Not so much. And outright abuse? That’s a projection.
That’s someone else’s unhealed wound talking to me like I’m a mirror they don’t want to look into.
