Life Companion

1. Find a Thick-Skinned Role Model Although it’s easy to believe that being criticized means we did something wrong, the reality is that receiving criticism is a hallmark of doing cutting-edge, important work. Getting a negative response means that you’ve hit a nerve; it tells you a lot more about the criticizer’s trigger point than it does about you. Look at Madonna, Lady Gaga, Hilary Clinton, Gloria Steinem. These are really polarizing women who hit a nerve in our culture, and have gotten a ton of criticism as a result. You may not like their work or what they stand for, but the people who criticize them are definitely threatened by them. Think of artists like Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, or the beloved Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel). These folks were so ahead of their time they were utterly rejected at first, only to be embraced later in their careers (or after they died) when the rest of the culture caught up. Having a thick-skinned role model can help keep you forg...

If you want something, go for it. Giving up should not be an option because only by going forward will you succeed. Ludwig van Beethoven, one of the most influential musicians, showed his musical talent when he was small yet he had hearing problem and was almost totally deaf in his 30s. Despite his hearing issue, he didn’t give up composing and some of the most admired works came from this period. Many people say Thomas Edison was a genius, but do you know that he made a thousand unsuccessful attempts at inventing the lightbulb? A reporter asked him how he felt to fail 1,000 times and he answered, “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The lightbulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.” J.K. Rowling got two As and a B in her A-levels and finished her bachelor degree in French and Classics at University of Exeter. She’s very educated but her manuscript of  Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone  was rejected by 12 publishers. The r...