Accept Criticism Better

Posted: May 19, 2015

[caption id="attachment_12310" align="alignright" width="300"] image: Dumb Little Man[/caption] Let's face it – nobody really likes criticism. It's a normal human reaction to get angry when someone tells us they don't like what we did. But, if you're not listening to criticism, you can be missing important feedback to help you be even better. These seven techniques help us take criticism, and learn from it. Heather Sinclair, contributing writer to Dumb Little Man, walks us through seven simple steps to improve our reaction to criticism. I’m not very good at taking criticism. Even when I think I’m ready for it, hearing it shatters my ego into a thousand pieces. I get defensive, angry, standoffish, and hostile. Sometimes it makes me want to cry. Taking criticism makes me feel bad, and I don’t like it. But if I avoid criticism I know I’ll miss out on comments that help me improve. I might not like what I hear, but I know I need to hear it. Criticism isn’t bad: it’s good. But I’m still working on learning how to take criticism better. Here are seven techniques I use. Pretend it’s Not About Me Repeat: “I am not my idea, plan, or project.” My brain understands, but when I’m on the receiving end of a critical comment, my ego doesn’t. To distance myself from the work being criticized, I pretend the comments are for someone else, and I’m just passing the comments along. Read the entire article, 7 Techniques for Taking Criticism Better, at Dumb Little Man.