When you receive criticism, you need a reliable method to move yourself from how you initially feel to clear thinking and good judgment. That’s how you discover what is true and useful and valuable, and what is not.

The hardest part of processing and responding to criticism? Your reactive emotions get first access, not your clearest thinking. You feel criticism before you think about it.

Someone just criticized you. They gave you direct feedback that something about your behavior creates undesired consequences. How does that feel? What do you do with the criticism?

Discipline is establishing a clear standard (or system of standards) and keeping your decisions and actions aligned with that standard.

What lessons can we take from this fresh understanding of denotation vs connotation?

One word that illustrates just how big the gap can get between denotation (literal meaning) and connotation (feelings and associations) is the word accountability.

How clear are you on the difference between a denotation and a connotation? I learned something yesterday that led me to a simple but profound realization.

“Don’t complain about results you didn’t get from work you didn’t do.” Have you heard that before? It’s a reminder that every result requires work.

You don’t know where you’re going when you run from something instead of to something. You know what you’re moving away from but not what you’re moving toward. That is a big problem. Bigger than you realize.