A day or the other, one gets to be criticized. It is part of life. It may be constructive or destructive to you. It utterly depends on how you handle it. Keep your head straight, follow this simple advice and you will be well equipped with knowledge that will aid you in dealing with any kind of critic.
1. Evaluate the Criticism Itself and Know About Its Source
It is important to analyze a given situation in order to determine the best course of action to pursue. Criticism can come from people who love and care for you or from those who just want to disapprove you for one reason or the other. Determining the cause helps you see whether you should take action or simply ignore. Identifying the problem first will guide you in selecting an appropriate solution for the problem at hand. Letting go is also a wise choice in dealing with criticism.
Review the situation afresh, and this time with no emotion or feelings such as anger or revenge. Be observant and analyze the situation you are being criticized about as a neutral person. Assume that you are observing someone else’s problem and about to give the best possible and long lasting solution to him or her. Do not be too sensitive. If you are, then you are probably not being criticized in the first place. A definite picture of the origin of the criticism will help you find a priceless solution.
2. Appreciate Your Emotions and Feelings
You can get really stressed up when you refuse to accept the fact that you have to face criticism. Keeping thoughts and feelings towards something or someone after being criticized does not help in solving anything. Accept your emotions and let your inner-self be heard. It may be difficult to confront the people close to you, but at a certain point in time, you will have to. Yes, let it all out. When you finally accept situations at the very beginning, you will be able to tackle criticism more appropriately than just allowing feelings and bad energy to grow inside you.
It is important to note a problem in its early stage. Do not blame other people for getting you mad or judge yourself. Allow what you feeling to speak for you. Make a random list of choices you can pick from and focus on those that will make you feel at ease and peace in handling the criticism.
3. Find Truth
Analyze the content you are being criticized with and yourself whether what the critics are saying is true. Although it may hurt, you might see somewhere you can correct your actions or change your attitude. Instead of reacting relentlessly and fighting back you can simply ask for views from those close to you. They can give you good advice and help you find a different yet effective approach in handling the situation
The people around us, the people in our inner circles often truly know who we are and what we are and what we are capable of achieving. They can help us easily see when we cannot. Your behavior or actions may not have been appropriate that resulted to you being criticized in the first place. Our judgment may be clouded especially when we are stressed when facing criticism and judgment. Your true friends and family can help find crystal clarity in a given situation.
4. Correct False Statements
When something is being spread around about you that is not right, a lot of harm can be done to your reputation or even your career. Do not let critics put you down with lies. A good way of dealing with lies from critics is by writing them all down. After putting this in writing, identify the truth that will counter all those lies and straighten things out. After that ensure that you end any form of misunderstanding that may arise when your critics are misinformed. You can do this by making them aware of the lies they were insinuating and of facts behind truths they might not have known at the time.
If it helps, you can simply write down the true facts and statements and avail the piece of writing to the criticizers so that they get informed. This is an important step to take especially before deciding on other measures of dealing with critics.
5. Keep Your Head in the Game
Many athletes in general also face a lot of criticism when they fail to meet certain standards in their respective fields. For example, the best professional footballers in the world are often under the pressure to maintain form and deliver in terms of performance. This is also the same with other professionals and artists. Critics come at you because you are an achiever. Ignore them and continue to pursue your goals.
You do not have to respond to every single critic that heads your way. Assume you were not able to hear their say in the first place. Keep your head up and you’ll find your critics stepping away one by one. Continue to pursue only what is important in life.
6. Reach out to Your Critics
They are also human beings. You will be surprised that some of your criticizers are stuck somewhere or have a problem that bothers them. This is rather common among those who know you personally. This may cause them to lash out at you as a reaction to their own internal battles. Be modest and reach out, especially to those close to you. They may simply be crying out for attention. Try your best to understand their issues if any give them a helping hand wherever possible.
I am positive that they will neither forget your good deed nor think of criticizing you again. You will get a chance to bond with your critics and eventually strengthen your relationship with them. You never know, you might also need their help at some point for instance in hushing other critics too.
7. Draw Distinct Boundaries
Everyone has the total liberty to pick who or what they have to put up with in their life. Let your critics know when they have crossed the line or invaded your personal life. When the critic is someone close to you which is sometimes the case, master some courage, set clear boundaries and inform them of the same. I am sure they will respect this move. The longer you wait to be heard the more your heart will suffer. This will, in turn, keep you weighed down by someone or something that should not. You should be free to pursue your life’s true passion.
Go through a specific course of action if the source of criticism persists. Let your critics be fully aware of what you will do if you are criticized by them again. Try to make sure they do not criticize you again. For instance, you can do so by ending a call on the phone politely or exiting the room without saying a word. If it involves a personal relationship, you can end it altogether. In the long run, you have to follow through and take action.
8. Be Firm and Solid
When challenged in public by a critic, stay firm, keep in control of yourself and be polite. Let kind words come out of your mouth. Do not lash out at them or let anger take over. Never at any given time criticize the critic. Most importantly, do not pick a fight in public. Maintain your confidence, be composed and be grateful. You have to have succeeded at something to be in a position to be criticized. So never let them weigh you down, march on!
For instance, you can be challenged by a colleague at work in a formal meeting who criticizes you for all the wrong reasons. Be confident enough to offer to resolve the problem with him or her later on. Humble yourself and agree to disagree instead of starting a pointless argument. If his or her idea is simply wrong, correct the individual with a polite and factual statement. A smile along with it will go a long way in ensuring that the person on the receiving end and other witnesses deduce that you are doing the latter respectively.
In conclusion, if you find a problem seems hard to crack by any of the means mentioned above, Move on. Do not get yourself tied up around critics. Break free or you will instead get derailed and this may affect you negatively as you follow your passion. It is important to think about being the more mature party. Apply this way of moving on when the other means seem to be time-consuming or rather expensive. You would be better off doing something more meaningful. Get a deep understanding of the above ways of coping and you will have no challenges whatsoever in handling criticism in life
Learn to forgive and forget. While following this step you also should not complain about your critics. Instead, treat them with respect and kill them with kindness. This may actually make them change their attitude towards you. This is also important in guiding you towards acceptance and gives you the opportunity to have a peace of mind.