Sort of a follow-up to another recent post about people taking words personally; asking Satanists as a Satanist, how do you deal with negative remarks about you or things you do? I don't mean online really, I don't tend to struggle with taking rude or unnecessary comments. It's easy to dismiss faceless anons in my opinion.

An example of what I mean: the nature of my workplace can be sporadic, so I've asked my boss if I can come to work a little earlier to allow time for any unforseen hiccups and the like, while still making it home at the same regular time. While she agreed, I learned from a coworker afterwards that my boss took that to mean I'm slow and need extra time for everything, which has never been further from the truth in my time working there. It annoyed me but I thought I didn't take it all that personally.

My partner noted though that after that, I became focused on shaving off more and more time off the end of my shifts whenever possible (without sacrificing quality or shirking responsibilities) to the point of feeling frustrated when I wouldn't be able to clock out in a shorter time frame. I believe I was trying to prove something because I did end up taking it too personally.

I felt my work ethic had be questioned/attacked when I've always strived for excellence, so I felt I had to prove otherwise I suppose. As I'm typing, realizing it's probably a case of counterproductive pride. So in addition, what's a way you've found to deal with that "sin"?