2. Do the Ask

Once you receive any form of criticism, a good step is to try and understand the background or reason behind the criticism. A straightforward way of doing so is by asking questions. You can form a conversation with the person you have just received these negative remarks from.

These steps will be very important if the remarks are somehow constructive. This gives you a better opportunity to ask for possible assistance towards improving your work or personal life. No one has ever been jailed for asking questions, and you will not be taking the wrong step by doing so.

3. See Criticisms as Suggestions

Most people get annoyed by any form of bad comments or remarks, and they end up taking it as critical to their work or performance. When we learn to see most comments as suggestions, criticism will be a word we wouldn’t have to deal with very often.

Even if these people make the comments or remarks sound like anger or resentment, they might just be trying to point out the mistakes you have made. They might do it with the hope that you can correct your mistakes.

4. Expect and Value Criticism

As humans, most times we only value good remarks and comments as motivation for our work. But this is a very wrong perception towards our work and even our personal life.

Most good remarks and comments are just false flattery. Some people may not welcome the idea of directly criticizing your performance. Instead, they give you good remarks just to make you feel good about yourself.

Criticism is important for growth, and without it, we will most likely not improve on the things we are already doing. When we don’t get criticized, we are placed in a state of rest, and we may not see the need for improvement. When criticism comes, we are more uncomfortable and willing to improve.

5. Reflect on the Criticism

Most often, when we get criticized, we would want to respond back in an aggressive or violent manner. This happens because we feel the critic has injured our pride or ego.

When we take our time to reflect on this criticism, we will have the opportunity to clearly see the areas in which we have faulted and, hopefully, resolve them.

Even if this criticism is founded on a false premise, it will still be a good decision to sit back and reflect before giving a response. This is necessary because we end up responding in a very aggressive or violent manner.