Criticism is hard for many people to take from others. Some people tend to fall into the sabotaging trap of silently denying or ignoring the criticism because of the number one fear of adults, failure. We are our own worst enemy in assessing ourselves. Here is a 4 step emotionally intelligent process to make it easier to accept criticism from others and be able to grow from the experience.
(1) Be more self-aware of how you are feeling in each situation. Practice doing daily mental check-ins to know how you are feeling.
(2) How valid is the source? If it is coming from someone who you value their opinions, then decide to listen to what they have to say without initially judging. If it is not a valid source, then just let the comments roll down your back and move on.
(3) Will I take responsibility for my behavior? After assessing and you say “yes”, then move to the next step. If no, then go back to the first step.
(4) Take appropriate action. Take realistic steps to change the behavior to work better for you and others.
We cannot grow without being able to listen to feedback from others and taking action when appropriate. Stop yourself from making a knee jerk judgment and assess the feedback and ask yourself if you can benefit from it.