How to deal with Criticism?

There may be times when we are criticized, justly or unjustly. The greatest people in the world have been criticized. Justified criticism can be very helpful and should be taken positively as feedback. Unjustified criticism really is a compliment in disguise. Average people hate winners. When people are not successful, critics have nothing to talk about.

The only way you will never be criticized is if you do nothing, say nothing or have nothing. You will end up being a big nothing.

Unjust criticism comes from two sources:

Ignorance. When criticism comes out of ignorance, it can easily be eliminated or corrected by bringing awareness.

Jealousy. When criticism comes out of jealousy, take it as a compliment in disguise. You are being unjustly criticized because the other person wants to be where you are. The tree that bears the most fruits also gets the most stones. An inability to accept constructive criticism is a sign poor self-esteem. Suggestions for accepting criticism:

Take it in the right spirit. Accept it graciously rather than grudgingly. Learn from it. Accept it with an open mind, evaluate it and if it makes sense, implement it. Be thankful to the person who gives constructive criticism because he means well and has helped you.

A person with high self-esteem accepts positive criticism and becomes better, not bitter. The problem with most people is they would rather be praised and lose than be criticized and win.

Complaints

Some people are chronic complainers. If it is hot, it is too hot. If it is cold, it is too cold. Every day is a bad day. They complain even if everything goes right. Why is it not a good idea to complain? Because 50% of the people don’t care if you have got a problem and the other 50% are happy that you have got a problem.

What is the point of complaining?

Nothing comes out of it. It becomes a personality trait. Does that mean we should never complain or invite complaints? Not at all. Just like criticism, if it is done in a positive way, complaints can be very useful. A constructive complaint:

(a) shows that the complainer cares.

(b) gives the receiver of complaints a second chance to correct himself.