Make constructive criticism your next “Best Friend”.

We face criticism throughout our life and we are familiar with it right from the time we started understanding things around us. Even in school, we usually compare with other children by our parents or by our teachers. But that does mean our parents want to demoralize and demotivate us? The clear cut answer would be “No” but why do they scold us and compare us with others? Does every criticism is bad or lead to destruction? If not, then what can we learn from it?

Having a positive attitude toward criticism is an important skill that can be helpful in our professional and personal lives. It's normal to fear criticism, but it can be a powerful tool for personal growth. You should start from analyzing why you are being criticized and what kind of feedback is given to you.

We have two options, either to take criticism positively to improve ourselves or else we can take in a negative manner that can bring down our confidence and cause stress & anxiety.

Criticism is something that we all experience at one point or another. It's good if we know how to respond, or take it, or grow from it.?But always remember that we can use criticism to our advantage.

We don’t like to be criticized. A single criticism, comments, or any negative opinion of others about us is alone to destroy our entire day.

Throughout my life, like every other people, I faced criticism but I have benefited from it significantly.

Below are the following things we can learn from it.

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?It’s not always personal?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Yes, you heard it right. There are times when people pass a negative comment on us and what we do wrong is to take it personal. He is criticizing us may be because he is suffering from some problems and unusual circumstances that make him pass such comments on us. The other reason could be that some people are critical by nature and?they don’t realize that knowingly or unknowingly they are hurting the feelings of other people. Therefore, it makes no sense to take things personally.

If you know someone who is critical of everything, try understanding the fact that it is just a part of one of their character traits. He/she does not intend to make you suffer.

It can help you be more competitive

I have learned one thing in my life that a little criticism is?necessary to get the best out of people. One needs to take it as a challenge and try defeating it. Sometimes you work harder to defeat the other person who has said false things about you, but it’s like a blessing in disguise. You work hard day and night and in the end, the result comes in your favor and then you realize it has done better to you than harm. And at last, you realize that if it weren’t aimed at you, you probably wouldn’t have worked so hard.

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It promotes a healthy work environment

In an organization, where people take criticism positively and do a constructive criticism. It may lead to better organizational results and in that process people also learn various things and get better at work. Sharing better ideas and feedback among the employees can result in good performance and learning for each one involved in the process.

Most importantly, this open environment allows people to actively share their opinions without compromising their personal feelings. It not only helps the organization in achieving the goals, but it also helps you to think about the way you work and also help you achieve better individual results that may benefit you professionally to grow in your career.

John Douglas once said

"Learn to see the difference between constructive and destructive criticism. Appreciate the constructive, ignore the destructive.’’?

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It helps in getting new insights

We as a human have some limitations and criticism can help us take a fresh look at things and open our eyes to things we?have overlooked or never thought about. Whether it is a peer review of work or performance measurement, constructive criticism can help you grow by providing opportunities to highlight and improve.

Leaders in the field can't be effective in case they are not open to criticism and by being available to constructive criticism, it helps them see alternate points of view and get new insights and information. Leaders who focus on developing internal and external self-awareness, seeking honest feedback, and asking what rather than why can learn to see themselves more clearly and reap many rewards that will lead to greater self-awareness. It doesn’t matter how far we have moved forward, there is always a lot to learn. We have seen some successful and established individuals who have excelled in their careers?and they?are always eager to learn new things and are ready for suggestions and feedback from others to polish their skills. This is a thing that makes the journey toward self-awareness so exciting.

We know that criticism doesn't sound good. But this is an important part of life. It helps develop our character and skills. It helps in fostering our character and abilities. It's likewise an approach to get new bits of knowledge about things that we don't know about yet, for example, places, things, individuals, occasions and each and every current thing on the planet. It shows us an alternate viewpoint of life, which can be here and there be stunning. Thus, figure out how to acknowledge appropriately criticism and benefit from it.

It enhances team bonding at the workplace

When someone criticizes you, it means that they care about you. He/she wants you to improve in your work and they have bothered about you to send this message. Getting feedback, either positive or negative, is great because it means that your colleagues or peers care about you and want you to learn and improve. With their guidance and feedback, you will be better suited for the job and allow you to learn more along the way.

It has been seen that teams who practice constructive criticism efficiently work together and achieve more desired results as a team than teams who don’t encourage constructive criticism.

By contrast, criticism is a major contributor of team bonding at the workplace. The difference between constructive and destructive criticism is what counts, and constructive criticism should be encouraged more often.

Criticism is not always a bad thing. It may seem harsh to hear it from a colleague or boss, but in fact, it can be helpful. When handled well, criticism will enhance team bonding at the workplace.

Feedback is "important"

We are all human and make mistakes. Some people believe that they are perfect. But how can you believe what he's doing is right without feedback? And there are times when we are going wrong and we cannot identify the mistake we are making. A good feedback from other helps us in that situation to identify and rectify the mistake and improve us. This is why feedback is so important because it helps you know what you should be doing better. Even every business needs feedback to grow and learn from the perspective of others. That way, they can provide the best products not only to meet the needs of consumers, but also to make the business profitable. Always be open to what people say about you and your products. Don't be stubborn. If someone tells you something is wrong, don't argue. Even if you don't believe it, thanks for the information and move on. Listening to your customers is crucial and they should know that you care. It gives you an idea of what is right and what can be done better. Reviews provide useful information to change or improve one’s performance. Without effective feedback, any attempt to achieve your goals & objectives will be weakened.

Communicating and responding to criticism in a calm manner can help you find effective solutions to problems. At times all you need is to have a conversation with your beloved critic that can show you the right path. It also gives a positive impression to others that you take their ideas and opinions positively. Hence, it provides you with a better solution.

Criticism is an extraordinary method to work on your performance. You ought to think about paying attention to it and making changes. Contemplate what your companion may advise you and afterward apply that to yourself.?

It helps you grow as a person

Once if we learn how to face and deal with it. We can take much better decisions in our professional and personal life. It will expand one’s thinking horizon and helps us see both sides of a coin and less judgmental about things.

Some people think that if they are criticizing you, it makes them wise. This is not true. Peer reviews and constructive criticism can be beneficial in numerous ways. That's why we should learn how to handle this skillfully and not defensively.