Perfect people don’t exist and that’s why there will always be those who will find a reason to criticize what you do. You will never be able to avoid criticism completely, but you can learn to learn valuable lessons from it. Here’s how to best respond to complaints and criticism to get a useful experience out of it!
It is not easy to listen to someone criticize you, and it is even more difficult to ensure a positive outcome from it. For some people, even insignificant criticism is reason enough to end a relationship, and they take any negative remark as a serious insult.
But the more mature an individual is, the more he will allow others to have different opinions about him and what he does. He understands that he can make mistakes.
When we understand that we have the right to make mistakes, we don’t spend so much energy trying to hide them from ourselves and others. And the less we are afraid of mistakes, the less stress we will experience and our chances of achieving success will be higher.
If we open ourselves to the possibility of someone criticizing us, then we will expand the range of useful information we are ready to accept and the circle of people we are ready to include in our lives. This ultimately means that we can move forward and grow as individuals.
Here’s how to best respond to complaints and criticism to get a useful experience out of it!
Say – Yes!
When someone challenges us, the first thing we should do is calm our emotions and realize that every person has the right to their opinion.
If a person gathered courage and told us something that is not very comfortable to say, it means that this person wants to establish a dialogue with us and that he considers us important enough to engage in the same dialogue. The basis of such behavior is a greater amount of sincerity than in those persons who are always silent.
Try to see things from the other person’s perspective and find what you can agree on with that person because when a person criticizes, they expect resistance – it’s just human nature. But when he or she hears the words “thank you” instead of agitated resistance, she will be “positively confused.”
When we say: “Yes!” to someone’s reprimand, they should be ready to try to understand what happened and enter into a real constructive dialogue.
Say – But
Criticism does not always coincide with our understanding of the situation. Therefore, it is important to state your point of view openly. But you should focus on objective information and not try to justify yourself.
That way, the person criticizing us will see that we are trying to understand what happened. The thing is, people are willing to accept a lot if the situation is explained to them in a polite way. This can help others see the situation in a new light and take our opinion into account.
Using the short word – “but” helps us to avoid the position of summarizing the situation in the words: “Whatever you say.” Even if we are aware of other people’s right to criticize us, we are not obliged to accept everything they say as irrefutable truth.
Say – Let’s go
After listening to criticism and expressing our own, well-argued point of view, it is important to try to come to a joint decision about what to do next. In order for the other person to understand that you are not just dismissing their ideas or feelings, you must present concrete and constructive ideas.
If we respond to criticism in this way, then a negative reaction can have a positive effect on us, it can help us see where we went wrong and how we can correct it. More importantly, the process can help us improve our relationships with other people.
Mischievous Words by Marta 