Lyra Aoko and Nick Mutuma
Nick Mutuma and Lyra Aoko released the video to their song 254 Anthem about a week ago. As usual everyone had an opinion on it. Most of them were not so good. It turned into a huge issue online with everybody giving their 2 cents on it for 3 days. The negative comments were brushed aside and the people who made them were termed as haters. Granted that most were just saying stuff for the sake of it, criticism for the song and video has been growing. Some people are even claiming that comments that aren’t praising the song on YouTube are being deleted. I don’t know how true this is, but it got me thinking about how we give and take criticism about something. Writers, Musicians, News anchors and other professionals all fall prey to this. They pick fights and take it personally when a few people do not like what they do.
There are times you sit down and do something you love or have been dreaming of doing for years. You put in a lot of money and time into it. You love the end result and decide to share it with people. 50% of them love it and sing your praises for the days. 40% are against it and the rest simply have no opinion on it. It’s been your dream to do this thing for ages. So how do you feel about some people not liking what you do. So how exactly do you handle this criticism to your work?
Consider the source of the criticism, who is telling you your work isn’t good enough. You’re going to receive criticism from thousands of people in your lifetime. Knowing the source of the criticism helps you know how to react to it let’s say you’re a writer and his reader who stumbled upon your work for the first time says “You are stupid†or “This is gay†you can choose to ignore this person. They don’t really know your work and there’s no need to get upset by such a random comment. But if you get a long time reader or a friend who knows all your work you should consider their criticism. Their input is important because they follow what you do so you need to ask yourself why this person who is always a huge fan suddenly thinks you have dropped the ball.
If you think the source of your criticism isn’t genuinely interested in helping your improve, take their criticism with a grain of salt. But be sure to honestly assess their point of view. You may be too quick to write off criticism by saying, “They’re just jealous!†This might be true, but try to thoughtfully evaluate the feedback before dismissing it. They might not have good intentions when they criticize you but their point might help you improve on what you do.
When it comes to accepting criticism, learn to listen. Fight the urge to argue with the person or explain your mistake, and just listen to your critic. You’d be surprised what you can learn if you simply take in their words and see things as they do. Arguing will not change the fact that maybe you did something wrong.
Don’t take it personally. Criticism is not a personal attack on you. Try to detach yourself from your actions or work when receiving criticism so you can look at it objectively. It’s hard not to feel like they are attacking you but it’s the best way to prevent a bruised ego. Let it be about the output rather than you as the person doing something. People can like you but that does not mean they will always think your work is 100% great. If they point out something wrong, take it at that and don’t feel hurt. Stay calm and keep your emotions out of the way as much as possible.
Make sure you’re on the same page with your critic by asking clarifying questions. Most times people who critic your work are vague or misunderstood. Ask them to explain more so that you can be able to see how to improve your work. It will help you understand what people who are looking at your work see and also help the critic learn how to express themselves better. Create dialogue rather than just accepting what they say and moving on without any suggestions on improvement.
When someone points out a legitimate mistake to your attention, don’t get on the defensive and start making excuses for it. Take responsibility for your actions. Many of us love to lay blame on others. At the end of the day, it’s your work. You should have noticed a problem in it. Be the bigger person and accept your mistake and work on fixing it.
The feeling you get when your work is criticized is not great. No one likes feeling it. But it does help us be better at what you do. When someone does not like something you do, thank them for it and work on the problems pointed out. They might have been malicious in their actions or they night have genuine concerns. Either way, have an open mind and listen. You can’t be good at what you do without someone criticism what you do and making you work harder at it. Hard as it may be we all need to learn how to accept criticism without picking fights and making a huge issue out of it.