Experiencing criticism in life and work is common. However, it can be stressful to deal with. Even though everyone gets criticized at some point in life, that doesn’t make it easy to bear.
Criticism can come at a time when we are experiencing our own doubts and hearing it can affect our mental health and wellbeing.
You can’t avoid criticism. You can encounter it at work, as a business owner or in your personal life.
Dealing with criticism is an important skill. There are ways to mitigate the effects of criticism and even to benefit from them. Let’s jump in and let’s explore strategies that can help you cope with criticism.
Don’t Take it Personally
It’s helpful not to take criticism personally even if it’s directly leveled at you. Viewing it as a deliberate attack on your character is most likely unfounded. Even if the person criticizing you indicates that they dislike you, it’s irrational to view it as a flaw in your character.
There are cases where the criticism says more about the speaker than it does about you. The speaker may be frustrated due to other reasons, and it’s possible they could behave the same way with other people in your position. Keeping such points in mind can help you cope with criticism.
Practice Complete Self-Acceptance
Criticism can be especially painful if you think that you need to be perfect. Demanding perfection is not helpful at all, nor is it possible all the time.
Practice complete self-acceptance and embrace your imperfect human nature. Being flawed is just part of being human. Everyone is prone to making mistakes.
Accepting that making mistakes is a part of who you are will allow you to be kinder to yourself. Criticism that comes from others doesn’t hurt as much as criticism you inflict on yourself.
Working on self-acceptance is a useful strategy to help you grow. Practice self-acceptance by joining classes. An online membership site, for example, can be useful for learning meditation and self-acceptance.
Look for the Lesson
The best thing that you can do is to look for the lesson in the criticism. Even if the criticism seems unfair, you can learn something from your reaction or about the other person’s feelings.
Dealing with unfair criticism is very likely if you start a business or create a site for your brand. It’s important to look at complaints and negative reviews to see how you can improve.
Look for lessons in interactions where you experience criticism. In the end, you may learn something that can make the experience worthwhile.
Realize You Can’t Please Everyone
One viewpoint that can help you cope with criticism is to realize that it’s not possible to please everyone.
No matter how right you are or appropriately you act, someone will find your behavior incorrect and offensive.
Making peace with the fact that you can’t please everyone can give you a sense of equanimity. for example, you can come up with the most innocuous blog post idea and still find conflict in your comments section.
Accepting that there will always be people won’t agree with you can help you brush off criticism that’s unreasonable.
Avoid Extreme Thinking
It’s possible to have a strong fear of criticism because of extreme beliefs. Wanting everyone to approve of you or thinking that being criticized is the worst thing to happen are extreme beliefs. Naturally, these beliefs don’t reflect reality.
It’s extreme and unreasonable to expect everyone to approve of you. Being criticized can feel bad but it’s not the worst experience you can have. Be more aware of your thoughts to avoid extreme thinking.
Criticism is Manageable
Dealing with criticism can be hard but it’s unavoidable. But there are ways to work past them to develop a presence of mind and learn from such experiences. By working on the strategies mentioned here, you’ll learn how to cope with criticism and move on from it faster.