5 Eye Opening Ways to Deal with Criticism

 

We face criticism in everything we do in life. Be it trivial or big, we are at the receiving end of criticism every day for our work.

 

why criticism?

If we try to dig deep we would trace a concept called duality which exists in this world where either something is true or false, good or bad, easy or difficult, right or wrong, etc. So either you are liked or disliked. The expression of dislike can vary to different degrees and how a person chooses to express it. There it gets complicated. It involves many things at once. The choice of words, the emotion, tone, purpose, mood are some. Let's understand how can we deal with them in real life. 

 

1. Understand from where criticism is coming

What made the person think like what they've said. Breakdown every sentence. Allow your brain to process it. In most cases, you would tend to find some hidden truth about your work from what is being said. The person might want you to improve. And they are just sharing their honest feedback. It becomes so important to listen to them because that way we learn about our mistakes.

 

2. Categorize as constructive or destructive criticism

Constructive criticism is the one that is given to build you up. It helps you better your craft. On the other hand, destructive criticism is malicious in nature. It has come out of jealousy, hate, or dislike. It straight away declines you without examining. This creates a negative impact on us. It sometimes demotivates us to a level where we feel we are of no good. This is the one which you have to be very cautious about and yet ignore it. Cautious because you don't have to let it block you from doing what you want to do. And you must ignore it as it is not helping you in any way. Honest feedback is hard to find than abuses. Never let the latter bother you. 

 

3. Be at a state of zen

It's easier said than done definitely. But at least try not to be affected by criticism. You have to focus on your journey, the rest is secondary. Let's accept that nobody is perfect. We are all trying to improve. And this process should continue no matter what. No criticism or failure or success for that matter should stop you from learning in your life. The sense of accomplishment or failure should go. We must be thriving for more. 

 

4. Honest feedback should be valued

Honestly is a rare find today. We generally are not honest with one another because we don't want to make the other person feel bad when we don't have nice things to say. Only a very few can provide you genuine feedback. You should not feel bad or hurt but accept it. Later you might thank them for letting you correct what was wrong.

 

5. Be self-critical

No one knows it better than you yourself. Be your own critic. It would mean that you already know what has to be changed. And when someone tells you that you agree with them on this. Let's take the other scenario, where you might think you are as good as Picasso or Beethoven. Take some time to sit down and write what you can do better. It might break the bubble. Being self-critical helps you stay grounded. 

 

Conclusion

 In the end, I hope you find some value from this write-up. I tried to fit all the concerns around criticism. How you can use criticism to your advantage instead of getting offended by it. The world has all kinds of people and thus all kinds of opinions. What you can do is change how you look at it. Light that fire in you and show the world that you're not gonna stop come what may. This is the only thing that matters. 

 

If you need to find something more check out other articles from the blog.