Learning from yourself is essential, but learning from others can also be valuable. Although receiving feedback and criticism can be unpleasant, it can provide insights that you wouldn’t have otherwise.
If someone envies you, it could bring to light traits about yourself that you may not have noticed before. Even though you may already value your own characteristics, jealousy can uncover something that was previously concealed. It’s crucial to acknowledge that you are capable of learning from yourself, but the insights and views of others can also contribute to your personal development.
Learning from the worst feedback needs more time and skills to extract the knowledge behind it. The reason is every new aspects of the feedback needs to be validated and compared with the existing knowledge. Usually emotions are involved and the feedback is not clear and the intention is to hurt.
Calming Down: The Art of Self-Soothing
We react in a big way, but later, when those prefrontal cortex functions are back in place, we regret how we reacted and often hold a more balanced perspective. We may have insight into how we took our partner’s words out of context in an argument. - Psychology Today
As a senior professional, I have been in challenging positions, like the stress of the projects, dealing with an individualist or the one rejecting collaboration, or just due to personal reasons, they always make your day difficult. Identify the thoughts causing stress and consider alternative, more balanced perspectives. Replace irrational or catastrophic thoughts with more realistic and positive ones. I have been using the following techniques to calm down:
- Give a day at least 24 hours
- Write down the feedback, analyse it.
- Talk to a friend or mentor if you can
- Prepare an analytical response, pros and cons.
- Read later your answer and check if you are happy with it.
As an experienced professional, I have faced various challenges, such as stressful projects, individuals prioritising their interests over collaboration or personal reasons that can make a day difficult. It is important to identify the thoughts that cause stress and consider alternative, balanced perspectives. Replace irrational or catastrophic thoughts with more realistic and positive ones to manage stress effectively. Challenges are part of our life, and we need to learn how to deal with them whatever you do in your life.
The worst is “You can’t be, or we don’t have time … "
The worst feedback I have received starts always with negativity. It is quite understandable that they need your attention whatever the reason is. Only thing that you can do is to listen and try to understand the reason behind it. Analyse the feedback to understand the areas that need improvement and how to address them effectively.
The best is “You can be or how about …”
The best feedback I have received starts always with positivity. In this case you are showing that you care, and try to be constructive. Same as before, you need to listen and try to understand the reason behind it. Because there are reasons that works well. Analyse the feedback to understand exactly what you did well.
Business is about people, and people could be better. Be positive and constructive for yourself first, and try to create an environment where you can turn negativity into positivity. In the end, life is just problem-solving. That is the reason that we are here.