All of us have experienced the piercing edge of criticism at some time or the other. The word itself makes our face red and probably we want to either ignore it or hit somebody. But let me reveal a little secret of transition from ordinary to extra-ordinary. You need to embrace criticism like your best friend.
Taking criticism can be a difficult thing. It can be hard to deal with; after all, nobody likes to be told they're wrong. But it's not all bad news because sometimes you can use criticism to give you a competitive edge.
If somebody criticizes your action or your product or even just your thought process, don't get annoyed rather you need to analyse whether there is a shred of truth in criticism, is it intended to give your better suggestion healthy suggestion?
Logically, if you find some healthy input, you should actually thank the critic as their suggestion wrapped up in the stroll of criticism will improvise your product or idea.
Take criticism as feedback: Nothing is positive and negative; it is your approach and perception that makes the things critical and negative. Hence, you should always take the criticism as a Feedback. Because if someone is criticising you it means they want to give you feedback on what you're lacking in. Take the criticism as an opportunity to learn more. Through criticism you can evaluate that how you can address the issues of your customer and target audience and satisfy them.
Hence, before responding to criticism, take a moment to think before you respond to what they're saying. Especially in business, working with someone who is patient and able to receive and act on criticism means both parties can work towards a better outcome. For a play or production, it might mean getting to know what your audience actually wants.
Criticism helps make you stronger: If you always perceive yourself as the perfect and don't accept the feedback from other, how would you get to know the lacking aspect and improve for betterment and growth. Hence, whether you're a service provider or selling or performing, it is imperative to listen and act upon criticism as it will tell you precisely what's good and what can be done better.
Use that criticism to change your performance, service, exhibition or event - sometimes it will make for uncomfortable listening but it can make your product stronger as a result.
Criticism helps to improvise your services: Constructive criticism can guide you away from wrong practices to right one. This can be sometimes difficult when you're highly involved in a project but, if you allow inner self to rethink, you might get the ways to improve your way of working and avoid any negative outcomes.
Don't take the criticism personally: It's important to remember to not be offended by someone's remarks. However, a good professional is able to take criticism on board and not respond as though it's a personal attack. So, don't take the criticism personally if someone doesn't immediately like your work.
Even if you feel you're being criticised unfairly, don't retaliate with an extreme knee-jerk reaction or else you can irreparably damage your prospect of working with that client or audience and can even harm your reputation as well.
If there is a smell of plain jealousy then you have the reason to celebrate. People are jealous of only those who have something to be made jealous for as simple as that. People try to pull back only those few who are actually ahead of others if you're not ahead there can be no pulling back. The fact that your critics want to sheath you proves you're doing something exceptionally good & you are no more ordinary but rather you are on your path to become that extraordinary.
The writer Nitesh Kumar is a motivational speaker and founder of Aath Info Solution