Learn instead to use it or shrug it off. Be it tacit or otherwise, criticism is something you can’t escape, irrespective of your capability, position or status. But you sure can learn to handle it gracefully. Here are few suggestions on how to do it:
• Admit it:
Whatever the situation, personal or professional, if you realize the criticism is warranted, the best thing to do is to accept your mistake and move on, rather then offer lame excuses for your behavior. Admitting your mistakes will not lower your dignity; you only make things more embarrassing for yourself when you start making excuses.
• Ignore it:
There are some people who take pleasure is taunting and finding fault with others. They do this more out of a compulsive habit or insecurity rather than out of any unhealthy intention to put the other person down. It is best to ignore remarks by such individuals rather than brood over them for days.
• Acknowledge why:
Jealousy is often at the root of criticism. It is the fact that as one climbs the ladder of success, one tends to make more enemies than friends, and enemies who tend to pull one down at every possible opportunity. Avoid such people and ignore their remarks. Keep your cool, irrespective of how crude the remarks are. There is no harm in paying them back, but let this be done by your good deeds and not by your words. Your critics will soon realize that any criticism against you is baseless and unfounded.
• Absorb genuine feedback:
Every negative remark may not be criticism. It all depends on the intention of the individual who makes it. It also depends on how it is expressed. Negative remarks may also be passed on by a well wisher with and intention of giving you feedback you can work on.
• Do not react instantly:
It is wise not to immediately react to any kind of criticism. Even if the critics are not genuine, do not be on the defensive; it will only reflect your insecurity. Offering arguments and counter arguments only undermines your position. Raising your voice or giving vent to an emotional outburst aggravates the situation. So keep your cool.
• Take a tally:
Think seriously if you have been criticized on the same point more than once. When several people make the same kind of comment, there is usually something actually amiss. Assess the situation and analyze why many individuals should make a similar comment about you; it could be about how you talk, what you say or what you don’t say, or anything else, whatever the situation, look to the possible root of the criticism.
• Work at it:
Once you know where the fault lies, work on the problem and not on the act of criticism as such. Instead of getting into a depressed mood or worse, develop an inferiority complex, learn from your mistakes. Mend your ways, if the criticism is about your behavior r habits. If it is about your dress sense or etiquette, there are pros out there that will able to guide you. If you are at a loss as to where the problem lies, take help from family or friends who will be able to help you. It is entirely up to you to convert yourself from a loser into someone who gains from the criticism.
• Make it a learning experience:
There is always leaning to be had from any kind of criticism, genuine or otherwise, work on it and improve yourself; if it’s just a burst of aggressiveness from the other person, there is a lesson to be learnt about staying calm is adversity. So however you perceive it, you are the one who gains.