Hug a Critic Today!

We all need critics.  As much as we don’t like them at times, our critics really should be our best friends.  Ok maybe not our best friends in the sense that we should be hanging out with them and spending our free time with them but we should be very appreciative and grateful for them.  For without critics, life would not be the same—and not in a good way...

Some of the most successful people in life have some of the harshest critics constantly surrounding them and I don’t know that this is a coincidence.  Our critics give us an opportunity to do better, be better, and improve ourselves.  They tell us what we need to work on and what we did wrong.  They willingly point out our flaws and may even say things that are not true at times.  And believe it or not, these are good things!  Because of their “advice” we often take time to reflect on our actions and performance—they compel us to think about how we can improve!  Critics give us just the right dose of reality we need to allow us to remain humble despite our greatest efforts and achievements.  Because of critics, some of the most amazing accomplishments have been achieved in history.  Because of critics, I’ve stretched myself and have become a better person.    

Now imagine a world without critics where everyone was always nice, sweet, and complimentary all the time toward us.  Although it does sound appealing, our ability to progress, grow, and be better would be significantly stunted.  We need critics.  We need someone telling us that we are not perfect, that we have not yet arrived, and that there is always room to grow and improve.  We need critics to tell us what we did wrong.  We need critics to push us to greater heights and improved results.  We all need critics to become the best we can become.  For without them, many of us would stop achieving.

Let me give you a little personal example to illustrate my point.  When I was younger I played baseball.  No matter how good I thought I had done during a game, my dad would always find something to point out that I did wrong and I hated it!  In fact it got so bad I asked my father never to attend one of my games again.  Time went by and unfortunately my baseball career ended not long after this argument with my dad.  Reflecting back on this, I see now that my dad was probably the only one who was willing to help me be better.  My coaches didn’t correct my batting stance when my legs were spread a few inches too far apart or when the bat wasn’t off my shoulder like it should have been.  They didn’t point out how my throwing motion was incorrect or how it took me too long to get the ball out of my glove.  At the end of the day, my coaches essentially allowed me to not improve and eventually fail—good critics won’t let us do that.  For this reason, we all need good critics.     

Now, our perception and mindset toward our critics is vital.   Some choose to take a very negative mindset and become upset, angry, and even give-up or give-in because of them.  Others choose to take a positive mindset and become motivated and excited by them.  If we see critics for who they are and the important role they can play in helping us become better, we will be grateful for them because we will use them as a great source of strength and inspiration. 

So hug a critic today!  Ok maybe don’t go that far but let’s learn from my mistake early in life.  Let’s be grateful for our harshest critics because after all, it is because of them we can become our best selves.