How to deal with your wounded pride

The Open Forum website has recently published an interesting article. Although we can deal with many obstacles, such as treating a cold with hot soup, bruised limbs with a bandage or a headache with a cold compress, we are often not able to face the emotional stress of failure, rejection or loss. Just as home remedies help us with our health problems, you can even come to terms with your psyche. Here are a few tips:

1. Understand your "injury"

Refusal or failure to appreciate your work is like getting a sting in your confidence. Rejection, however, can be a great lesson for you, which allows you to review your proposal and realize its (and your) shortcomings. So stop battling your pride, and accept responsibility for your actions. How do you think great leaders, businesspersons and entrepreneurs are born?

2. You are not the centre of the universe

Many of us think that if we spoil the presentation or do not know the answer to someone's question, we automatically embarrass ourselves and our self-esteem suffers. Stay calm: other people do not care so much about you, and so your failure looks worst in your own eyes.

3. Stop being self-critical

Once you make a mistake, your inner critics immediately begin indicating a failure and you start to feel bad. Of course, it is important to understand what went wrong and how to fix it; but instead of self-criticism, you should substitute self-toleration and kindness. Acknowledge the good things that came out of the situation. You can create a list of supportive arguments that you can read in moments of self-criticism.

4. Ask for feedback

Many times when something goes wrong, we find the incorrect causes of failure. It is good to ask someone to give you his opinion of the situation. An open discussion will help you realize that perhaps nothing really terrible happened.

5. Get used to the "no"

We remember negative words of prohibition or rejection from childhood, when our parents said no to many things we wanted or wanted to do. However, "no" is a normal phenomenon of everyday life and you need to deal with it. You can try to talk with an experienced salesperson or acquisition specialist about how he copes with rejection after he makes many cold calls. Maybe you will even get a perfect solution for your own situation.

Chin up. Do not run out of an awkward situation into a corner. Show yourself and others that you have the ability to cope, even when your pride has been wounded. Become an example to your colleagues.

- bn-

Article source OPEN Forum - U.S. website and community of small entrepreneurs
Read more articles from OPEN Forum