The other day when speaking to a girl I mentor at a local high school, I knew she was not acting like her usual self. When confronting her about this problem, she told me that she was being bullied. She seemed very distraught about certain incidents that had occurred and asked for advice on what she should do.

My response was simple, "Don't do anything and pay them no attention. Strong people are those who bring you up while weak people are those who bring others down. So pay them no attention and keep moving forward." This brought me to really reflect on what this young lady was facing. Knowing this girl fairly well and understanding what she was going through, I was able to focus more on the kind of person she is and the type of people her bullies probably are. So, I decided to take a deeper look into what I believe are the characteristics that strong people and weak people lack.

Strong minded people…

Pick others up

A strong person is someone who is encouraging and does not feel the need to inflect harm on others, in order to make themselves feel better. They are more comfortable in their own skin. Someone who feels the need to tear down others is only revealing their personal insecurities, and perhaps even jealously.

Focus on the future

Strong individuals have a ‘here and now’ mentality while also focusing on the future. They understand that the past is out of their hands, and the only thing they can change is the future.

Welcome change

Change is the only thing besides death, that is bound to happen to us all. Whether it is in the next 10 seconds or the next 10 years, everything is certain to change. Strong people understand that fighting change is harder to do than understanding its inevitable outcome. We must embrace the possible obstacles and to turn them into opportunities.

Have an open mind

No one person holds all the secrets to the universe. Every day we are learning something new, and are granted different situations to learn life experiences from. Take advantage in knowing that every moment is a possible opportunity to learn something you had not known previously.

Don't feel sorry for themselves

Life is not perfect, and things are bound to happen. You will not always get everything to go your way. Everyone has faced problems in their lives, but should that stop you from moving forward? No, and if anything that should motivate you to get your act together, regroup and go at it again. After all, you are the only one who can direct your life.

Don't worry about pleasing everyone

It is impossible to make everyone happy. There will always be that one person who goes against the majority. While they have the right to hold their opinion, you don't have to spend your entire life trying to please that individual. Just as they do, you have the right to have your own opinion even if others do not side with your views.

Don't make the same mistakes

‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.’

Learn from your mistakes. We are all human and we all make mistakes, but what shows true character is what we really gain from our mistakes.

My final characteristic for what separates a strong, determined individual from someone weak, comes in the form of a personal story.

I recently attended a national conference in Atlanta, Ga, where I heard from a speaker found quite admirable. After his speech, I went up to talk to him about his presentation. While talking, he mentioned how one of his first jobs was writing for a newspaper. When he asked his boss at the newspaper company to promote him, they assigned him the obituary section to write. Less than flattered by his new position, he couldn't see how this was a promotion.

After mulling over the situation at hand, he came to realize that in the area he worked, people read the newspaper for two reasons: to read the sports section, and to find out who had died. With that, he no longer questioned how that was a promotion, but instead how he could make his section, the best it could be? What I took away from this man, who has now worked his way up as Vice Chairman for an international public relations agency is this:

"If you don’t like the answer, then change the question."

This is something that I will take with me and apply it to every question in my life.

Strong people are not only confident in what they can do, but also exude an energy indescribable. They allow not only themselves but everyone around them, to feel as though anything is achievable if you put your mind to it. They fully embody understand and embody what it means to truly want something, strive for a goal, and to live out their full potential.