Ok, quick review:
Monday: Criticism has nothing to do with whether you enjoy it. It has everything to do with what you do with it.
Tuesday: Criticism triggers emotions. Those emotions, whatever they are, get first crack at evaluating the criticism. You must build a bridge from those initial feelings to clear thinking and good judgment.
Wednesday: The meaning you give to criticism shapes how you respond to it. If you hold a negative connotation of criticism, you are pre-determining negative feelings and defensive reactions before you ever hear a criticism.
So when you hear a criticism, how do you build a bridge from those initial reactive emotions to clear thinking and good judgment?
It starts with one simple question:
Is any part of this true?
Not all of it. Not whether you like it or agree with it. Not how you feel about it or what it means. Not your intentions or the other person’s credibility.
The first step across the bridge is asking and answering the most disciplined question with disciplined honesty, “Is any of this criticism true, accurate, relevant, or worth understanding?”
Because if any of it is, even 10%, that criticism is relevant. It deserves your attention and effort, not your dismissal.
But if none of it is true, accurate, relevant, or woth understanding, then you can discard it with equal measures of discipline and confidence.
The undisciplined person sits and stews in their feelings about the criticism. The disciplined person asks the most important question:
Is any part of this criticism true?
Now you’re on the bridge to clarity and better judgment. You’re not across it yet, but you took the first step, which is further than many people go.
Event + Response = Outcome. Do the work
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