9 Tips For Facing Your Fear Of Criticism

1. Understand the limited mindset of others

People who are afraid to move outside of their comfort zone will try to project their limitations onto you. Unfortunately, many of us have been raised to view life with a limited mindset. Understand how they see the world and you won’t take offense to their comments.

2. Understand who you seek approval from

“You want praise from people who kick themselves every 15 minutes, the approval of people who despise themselves?” — Marcus Aurelius. Take the time to consider the mindset of the people you seek approval from.

3. Understand haters come with the territory

If you don’t have any haters, you are a nobody. It’s impossible to be well known or recognized without having critics. In fact, large amounts of criticism may draw more attention to your work. People love a controversy.

4. Don’t take things personally

If you take something personally it’s because you agree with it. It takes time to develop a thick skin. Part of that development is understanding that being upset is a choice.

5. Don’t be ambitious, be sane.

If you want to be sane you need to find happiness and meaning in the effort you’re putting forth, regardless of the results. Your work will remain restricted if it’s tied to the opinions of other people.

6. Don’t respond to trolls.

Don’t reply to negative comments on your blog posts. Don’t feel the need to defend yourself when you’re being attacked. It’s a waste of your time and energy. Put that energy into continuing to create.

7. Consider the life of a critic

Nobody ever built a statue to a critic. A critic takes a small amount of time to judge work you may have spent several hours, days, months, years, or your entire life creating. It’s much easier to critique other people’s work than to do work of your own.

8. Understand someone looks up to you

If you are pursuing something great, you have people who look up to you. There are people who respect you for putting yourself out there. There are people who appreciate your work. Keep in mind that you’re touching other people’s lives with the work you do. It would be selfish to hide your gifts from a world that needs it because you’re scared of a little criticism.

9. Do great work.

When you are creating something you should be your toughest critic. Not to get down on yourself, but to make sure the work you’re putting out is great. When you take the time to do great work you can negate potential criticism. You can also feel positive about the work you do even when it’s criticized