Test of Character 4. How you respond to critics
Haters gonna hate.
But do you hate back? Or start listing off a thousand reasons why they’re wrong? Or try to subtly undermine their reputation?
Critics used to trigger a defensiveness in me that was primal. Now…for the most part…they don’t.
What if when someone criticized you, you said thank you instead (silently or out loud)? There’s usually something you can learn from them. And often there’s a kernel of truth…even if it’s very small.
Even if you have to throw away most of what a critic says, you don’t have to throw away the learning.
Test of Character 5. What you tell yourself when you make a mistake
So what self-talk loop plays in your head when you make a mistake?
For too many of us, it’s unhealthy. It can range from You’re so stupid to You never make mistakes…other people do.
Neither is good.
Again, mistakes are tremendous learning opportunities. They are rarely fatal.
And one of the keys to success in life is not how many times you get knocked down. It’s how many times you get up. To be successful, you only need to get up one more time than you got knocked down.
Test of Character 6. How you react when someone overfills the trash…and doesn’t take it out
This one’s all about the expectations you have about other people.
Yes, there’s an unwritten rule that people who overfill the trash should take it out. Isn’t there? Isn’t there?
And isn’t there a rule about the person who opened the clean dishwasher being the one who has to empty it…because otherwise the little ‘clean’ light goes off and you can mix dirty and clean dishes together…an unspeakable evil.
But there’s also an unwritten rule about not being a jerk about it either when the rule gets broken.
