I tell people that the only reason others put you down is because they are insecure. A secure person has no need to put someone down because they see potential in everyone. If you allow the insecurity of others to limit you, you have placed an illusion of someone else inside of you. This false illusion then begins to limit you. Remember that you were created awesome. Learn to celebrate yourself and overlook the insecurity of others. Build yourself up and those around you. The only people who are critical, are people who criticize themselves, and do not like themselves. Their criticism toward you is a reflection of their own self loathing.  Since their self loathing is subconsciously unacceptable, these negative thoughts get projected on others. This is the phenomenon of narcissism.  Narcissism is a condition that occurs when one is verbally abused as a child. This creates poor ego development, commonly called low self esteem. In order to cope with this self esteem, an altar ego is created. This ego has to be pumped up and one up others. A healthy ego development causes one to be comfortable in their own skin, and promote others around them.