WEBVTT - How to take criticism in stride

0:00:03.400 --> 0:00:07.560
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

0:00:09.200 --> 0:00:14.840
<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

0:00:15.720 --> 0:00:19.760
<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is about how to take criticism in stride.

0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:23.959
<v Speaker 1>We all get negative feedback from time to time. You

0:00:24.040 --> 0:00:28.479
<v Speaker 1>can't please everyone, Plus none of us is perfect, so

0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:34.120
<v Speaker 1>sometimes criticism can help. But there are ways to distinguish

0:00:34.200 --> 0:00:39.159
<v Speaker 1>between helpful and unhelpful negative feedback, and being able to

0:00:39.200 --> 0:00:44.400
<v Speaker 1>do so can help us keep moving forward. Today's tip,

0:00:44.479 --> 0:00:47.440
<v Speaker 1>like a few others this week, comes from Todd Henry's

0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:51.800
<v Speaker 1>new book Daily Creative. In this guide, Todd shares three

0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:56.680
<v Speaker 1>hundred sixty six tips for helping creative people stay prolific, brilliant,

0:00:57.000 --> 0:01:00.640
<v Speaker 1>and healthy. One tip is about how to deal with

0:01:00.720 --> 0:01:04.320
<v Speaker 1>negative feedback. Todd recounts the time that he had read

0:01:04.400 --> 0:01:08.160
<v Speaker 1>a bad review of his podcast. He decided to do

0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:12.720
<v Speaker 1>a little experiment and pasted the reviewers user name into

0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:19.120
<v Speaker 1>his browser along with the word review. The result many

0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:25.119
<v Speaker 1>many one star reviews, disparaging all sorts of podcasts. Apparently

0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:28.520
<v Speaker 1>this person had never heard a podcast that reached an

0:01:28.560 --> 0:01:32.440
<v Speaker 1>acceptable bar. It's kind of funny, but you know, also

0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:36.240
<v Speaker 1>par for the course. As Todd writes, you will receive

0:01:36.400 --> 0:01:39.600
<v Speaker 1>negative feedback for your work, and it's important to receive

0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:44.360
<v Speaker 1>that feedback with grace and perspective. He continues that in

0:01:44.440 --> 0:01:49.120
<v Speaker 1>this case, perspective means understanding that, rather than building something

0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:52.840
<v Speaker 1>of their own, some people just spend their energy tearing

0:01:52.880 --> 0:01:56.120
<v Speaker 1>down the work of others. We can all wonder why

0:01:56.360 --> 0:01:59.800
<v Speaker 1>people feel compelled to do this, but there's no doubt

0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:04.720
<v Speaker 1>that's some do. On the other hand, sometimes critical feedback

0:02:04.840 --> 0:02:08.760
<v Speaker 1>is helpful. I have worked with some great editors over

0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:12.400
<v Speaker 1>the years who weren't exactly warm and fuzzy, and they

0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:15.880
<v Speaker 1>let me know when a draft wasn't working. When they

0:02:15.880 --> 0:02:19.800
<v Speaker 1>were right, they were right. And if someone can show

0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:23.880
<v Speaker 1>me exactly what I am doing wrong, that is an

0:02:23.919 --> 0:02:27.679
<v Speaker 1>incredible gift. I am also grateful to the person who

0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:30.720
<v Speaker 1>once mocked my speech notes and told me to get

0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:33.600
<v Speaker 1>my head out of them. For the past seven years,

0:02:33.639 --> 0:02:37.200
<v Speaker 1>I have almost universally spoken from memory and generally with

0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:41.359
<v Speaker 1>no power point, and it's been much better. Yes, getting

0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:45.480
<v Speaker 1>critical feedback can feel rough, but if the result is improvement,

0:02:46.400 --> 0:02:48.880
<v Speaker 1>isn't it worth it. It was once in a group

0:02:48.919 --> 0:02:51.680
<v Speaker 1>workshop where one person refused to let any of us

0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:54.680
<v Speaker 1>comment on her work. I thought it was such a

0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:59.200
<v Speaker 1>waste of an opportunity. We need to toughen up. So

0:02:59.240 --> 0:03:02.200
<v Speaker 1>how do you tell the friends? Todd has some wise

0:03:02.200 --> 0:03:06.440
<v Speaker 1>Thoughts and Daily Creative. When you receive negative feedback, he says,

0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:09.240
<v Speaker 1>pause and ask is the intent here to help me

0:03:09.280 --> 0:03:13.320
<v Speaker 1>get better? Or to tear me down? If it's the former,

0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:17.720
<v Speaker 1>learn from it, apply it and move on with life.

0:03:18.840 --> 0:03:22.800
<v Speaker 1>If it's the latter, sweep it into the dustbin and

0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:27.520
<v Speaker 1>again move on with life. It's easy to let negative

0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:30.680
<v Speaker 1>feedback bother you more than it should. But if it

0:03:30.800 --> 0:03:34.960
<v Speaker 1>is helpful, it is great, even if delivered with a

0:03:35.000 --> 0:03:39.800
<v Speaker 1>bit more gruffness than necessary. If it is just mean,

0:03:40.560 --> 0:03:44.720
<v Speaker 1>then the person's thoughts don't really matter. Go read some

0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:48.120
<v Speaker 1>more positive reviews if you want to, or just accept

0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:52.000
<v Speaker 1>that someone out there in this great, big world doesn't

0:03:52.080 --> 0:03:58.520
<v Speaker 1>like you. Oh well. In the meantime, this is Laura.

0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:03.080
<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:12.440
<v Speaker 1>our tax Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:15.360
<v Speaker 1>You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

0:04:16.080 --> 0:04:19.680
<v Speaker 1>Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at

0:04:19.720 --> 0:04:25.240
<v Speaker 1>before Breakfast pod that's B the number four, then Breakfast

0:04:25.600 --> 0:04:28.360
<v Speaker 1>p O D. You can also shoot me an email

0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:32.279
<v Speaker 1>at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com

0:04:32.320 --> 0:04:34.800
<v Speaker 1>that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:37.520
<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much. I look forward to staying in touch.

0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:46.440
<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For

0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:49.560
<v Speaker 1>more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart

0:04:49.640 --> 0:04:53.000
<v Speaker 1>Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your

0:04:53.040 --> 0:05:00.560
<v Speaker 1>favorite shows talk