Understanding what’s behind the words.
There are two types of criticism: constructive criticism and projected criticism.
Constructive Criticism
Constructive criticism is the type of criticism that every great person seeks out. If you are trying to improve yourself, hearing how good you are at something isn’t helpful. It’s nice to hear, sure, but what the person chasing excellence wants to know is, “what could I do better?”
Constructive criticism answers this question. It’s well thought out, objective, and the critic gives it with a level head. If the criticism is accurate, then it helps you improve. If the criticism is inaccurate, then you either learn what made the person see things that way, or ignore it.
Projected Criticism
Projected criticism is an emotional, negative reaction to something you’ve said or done. If someone rants about how irresponsible you are, it’s because something you did emotionally threatened them.
Projected criticism is simply a projection of a person’s psyche. It’s the result of envy, insecurity, or anger. It says more about them than you.
It should always be ignored.
Ask for criticism
Once you understand and can identify projected criticism, criticism becomes useful.
It’s easy to ignore the haters once you understand what is behind their words. All that’s left is constructive criticism, which helps you grow and improve.
