View Criticism as Feedback Not Failure

How do you take criticism? Are you the kind that curls up into a ball and thinks the world is coming to an end? Or do you get angry and defensive because you couldn’t possibly ____fill in the blank? Or maybe you just feel like a complete failure and want to give up the path you are on because you feel like it is wrong for you if others won’t like your style/message, etc.?

You may be a little of each of these depending on the situation. But what if you looked at criticism as feedback of the person’s perspective at the moment they were reading/listening to/watching the piece that you put out there for them? This would give you insight into how they view your work and give you ammunition in how to adjust it… but there is a catch here. The catch is you don’t want to take criticism as feedback from people who are not at all your target market.

So, what does that mean exactly? Well if you have a product or service that is geared toward professional women with kids and your brother who is young, not married, no kids criticizes your message then you can still love your brother but that is not something you need to put much time into evaluating to see how your message is hitting the intended target. However, if the majority of professional women with kids is reacting a specific way to something you have put out there – then that is valuable feedback that you should pay closer attention to.

Now, this is easier said than done. Here are some tips to take to do this in the most productive way possible:

- When you first put something out that you have vetted and feel good about then let it ride for a while. Don’t watch social media and hang on every comment, don’t pull up the blog reviews within the first few hours to gauge how you should “feel” about your latest post. Give it some time, then go look when you are sure you can look with less emotionally charged energy.

- Write down the comments and filter them, asks yourself if that really rings true or how you could word something a little different to communicate with your target audience in a way that would bring more harmony to the communication exchange.

- If you run it through your own filter and it still doesn’t feel right then I say keep going because for some reason that is the message you are to share at the moment (as long as it is true to your audience and not offensive, etc.)

- Realize that one or two comments or accusations that are unfounded should be left on the floor. You cannot please everyone, nor is that your mission. If you have sent something out there into the world with the right intentions and you review it to make sure that it carries your message then stand proud and give grace understanding that some people are just going to be triggered by anything that comes there way. It isn’t you in that situation it is them and you can’t own every one else’s reaction to your message.