10 Tools for Dealing with Criticism and Rejection
Ouch! Whether it's feedback we've asked for, an unsolicited
remark called out from the audience or a simple "no" result of an
audition or submission process, criticism and rejection are a huge
part of our lives as creative artists.
Sometimes we're so fearful of being criticized or rejected that we
keep our creativity bottled up and don't let it out.
Other times we constantly adapt what we create, focusing only on the
"market" and what they seem to be liking or disliking this week.
Then we end up feeling like we're not truly expressing our creative
impulses.
10 Tools for Dealing with Criticism and Rejection
1. Be Open. You may be hoping for a specific reaction or response to
your work, or a specific result of an audition, gallery submission,
performance or contest entry. If you've done your best and you're
rejected or criticized, you might feel that you've "failed", and
it's probably hard to see anything positive about the situation. Try
to be open to the possibility that this "failure" is actually
leading you to something else, usually better than what you thought
you wanted. As I read once in Cheryl Richardson's newsletter, "Any
rejection is God's protection".
2. Be Consistent. Keep going, doing the little things every day that
keep you creative and that keep you connected to other artists and
to your customers. The dramatic moments and big wins and losses will
come and go. Have a steady routine you can keep coming back to, and
this will help to place any criticism or rejection into perspective.
Today is a new day, another day you get to be an artist.
3. Be Focused. Keep your end goal in mind, and always be mindful of
why you're doing what you're doing. That will help you focus on the
big picture and not get tripped up by each bump in the road along
the way.
4. Be Resilient. Remember that your sense of self-worth comes from
inside of you. When you're able to be confident in yourself
regardless of the feedback you get from external sources, you're
able to bounce back much more easily from any negative feedback that
you may get.
5. Be Positive. Focus your attention on the positive and you'll
attract more of it. This is the premise of the "law of attraction",
and I've certainly seen it work in my own life. Hear the positive
feedback you receive and replay it over in your mind whenever you
need to.
6. Be Clear. Approach constructive feedback with an accurate
perspective, not muddled with thoughts from your own inner critic.
Take it as a helpful tool for your own growth and remember that
ultimately the only opinion that matters is your own - because you
need to be happy with what you're producing.
7. Be Grateful. Be gracious to your critics, accept all of the
feedback you receive, sit quietly and let it sink in. Be grateful to
be actively creating - to have gotten past the fear and other
roadblocks. Be grateful for the opportunity to have your work seen
and heard. Some never get the chance.
8. Be Responsive. Decide consciously what to do with feedback before
responding, instead of reacting with the first thought or words that
come to mind.
9. Be Selective. Once you've decided what to do the feedback you've
received, be selective and willing to let go of the hurtful
feedback. This usually doesn't have anything to do with you anyway;
it's a reflection of that person's own happiness, state of mind and
comfort with themselves.
10. Be Loving. Be loving of your critic and ESPECIALLY of yourself.
Plan some self-care treats for the day of the audition or
submission. Regardless of the outcome, you deserve it!
Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no
loss of enthusiasm.
Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)
Author Bio
Linda Dessau, the Self-Care Coach, helps artists enhance their
creativity by addressing their unique self-care issues. Feel like
your creativity is blocked? Visit
www.genuinecoaching.com to sign-up for the free e-course,
"Roadblocks to Creativity".
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