No matter how sincere, hardworking or honest you are, there will always be some people ready to judge and shower you with criticisms and not-so-music to ears remarks about your potential, dedication and skills. Welcome to this peculiar world of ours where nothing comes for free except these free advice and negative lectures which time and again turns us down. While criticisms can be good at times, most people find it difficult to accept these, resulting in a downfall in their performance.
Read the points below carefully and try to understand the various aspects regarding this issue:
1) A chance to improve: Nobody is perfect. No matter how efficient you are, there is still some room for improvement. What most people do not understand is that criticisms are necessary in every step of our life to make us aware f our limitations and take necessary steps to improve them.
2) Distinguish between constructive and destructive Criticism: There are people who want to help you and see you succeed in life and again there are people who want nothing less than your destruction. Ignore those criticisms which you feel can do no good to you.
“Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man’s growth without destroying his roots.”
–Frank A. Clark
3) Learn to admit your flaws: Nobody wants to hear any negative things about them. And you are not an exception to this. But when you are criticized for something, question yourself honestly whether you deserve this. If yes, then why? It is not wrong to commit mistakes but it is definitely wrong not to admit it.
4) Take responsibility: Your boss criticized you for not being able to finish the project on time? And you are angry on him? Instead of frowning on people for criticizing you, learn to take responsibility for the loss and commit yourself to prevent such mistakes in future. Some people have this habit of passing the blame on others. Never do this!
5) Ignore jealous remarks: If you feel people criticize, curse or shout at you out of jealousy, be happy because you are far ahead of them and it is none of your business to waste time and energy dealing with them. Just listen and ignore. And if possible smile…trust me it will pinch them like hell.
6) A chance to prove: Sometimes criticisms can do wonder for people by igniting the urge to perform and prove their worth. If you were criticized for being inefficient, dull, lazy or unworthy, take it as a challenge and prove the world how wrong they were! Even if you fail initially, these criticisms won’t let you rest until you have done what you had to do. So, in a way these criticisms work as an energy system to keep you determined and focussed.
“The better a work is, the more it attracts criticism; it is like the fleas who rush to jump on white linens.”
-Gustave Flaubert
Browse through the pages of history, read the lives and struggles of great people. You will realise how badly they were criticised throughout their life until they achieved what they had to achieve. No matter how much you hate criticisms, you can never really get rid of these and there will always be some people to remind you how inefficient you are! And these remarks can either break you or make you depending on how bad or how well you handle these things.
Believe in yourself and stay confident. The people who criticize you hardly know your capability and have judged you based on one or two things. It is you and only you who know your real potential.
Have you ever felt low, disturbed or pain due to the criticisms showered on you by colleagues/boss/friends or any other person around you? If yes, then please let us know, how you did you tackle the situation?
I think we all have felt low because someone said to us that we are not doing what the expect of us. I do agree that we can learn and become a better us if we put our mind to it. Thanks for sharing.
True Sabrina! There is always a room for improvement!
Thanks for reading
Being able to really hear and respond to constructive criticism provides opportunity to grow. But I agree one needs to learn to separate constructive and destructive criticism and ignore the jealous remarks. Most people don’t like criticism but it’s not good to be so afraid of being vulnerable to criticism that you don’t try to do something.
Yes, constructive criticisms are necessary in every step of life!
People who cares for our growth will always be there helping us grow by providing these positive remarks.
Thanks Donna
I do not like criticism – who does? It reminds us that we are imperfect. There is always room for improvement which in a way keeps one on their toes. If we think we have made it, arrogance can creep in.
I can think of many times I have been criticised whether about my appearance or about my actual abilities. Some criticisms were not constructive – just words spoken loosely by people because they could.
I agree with your statement; rather than becoming offensive, we can look at ways to improve.
Thanks for your views, Phoenicia!
I would like to request you to always avoid those judgmental people who comment about other’s physical appearance, skin color and so on.. Such guys are injurious!
It is just oh so much easier to talk about taking criticism constructively than it is to actually do it.
Haha! Yes, taking things positively is an art! It takes time to learn this art!
These are very good points about criticism. I think we do not mind criticism as long as it is done properly. Asking for improvement, or adding comments is one thing. Especially when there is encouragement included.
Just destroying your work, for the sake of destroying it, is where people react negatively to criticism. I do think it is funny, there are tons of posts and recommendations about handling criticism, how many have you seen about how to properly give it?
Ken, I think there should be a limit after which we should not allow people to disturb our peace of mind and hurt our dignity by offering useless comments.
When he was 19 years old, Elvis Presley was told by a more established performer that he should stick with his day job – driving a truck – rather than try to make it in music. Elvis shrugged off the remark, and the rest is history. Let us all follow Elvis’s example in handling criticism.