How to stop worrying about criticism.

Saturday, April 25th, 2009

Hi there once again!

Don’t you absolutely hate criticism?

It makes you feel lousy, useless, worthless.
It reveals your true weaknesses to the world.
Your bad traits that you were trying to hide from others, all exhibited and made public.

Your blood boils. Your head spins. Your breathing deep. You are in fight or flight mode.

What does the criticiser have that is better than you, anyways?

It’s not nice to be criticised indeed. But here is a way to help you get over that.

Taken from Dale Carnegie, one of the best self-improvement coaches in his time..

The idea that ‘no one ever kicks a dead dog”.

The fact that people are criticising you can only mean one thing: you took notice of you. Of what benefits does the criticiser have for releasing that nasty comment on you? Definately there must be some sort of benefit to him/her..we all do things for our own profit.

The answer? He is probably envious of you.

S/he criticised you because he gets satisfaction out of doing it. And remember, the more important or powerful you are, the more satisfaction s/he gains from doing so.

No one ever ‘kicks a dead dog’, the father of Robert Hutchins said when his son was inaugurated as 4th President of the University of Chicago at the age of 30.

How true it is. Think about it. If you were just a normal, ‘in-the-crowd’ and by-the-street passerby, would s/he criticise you? Would she even bother spending her time thinking about you? If s/he did criticise you, will s/he gain anything?

My answer is No, s/he wouldn’t. Unless you were of someone important, then the satisfaction is returned in the form of a cheap gleeful strike at you. The fact that s/he has the ability to make that comment, will make him or her feel pleasure doing so.

So always remember, ‘No one ever kicks a dead dog’, and you can guarantee criticism towards you will always sound like secret hidden praises!

Smile!
Jeff