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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