Q&A: How do I handle criticism?

Every month, I publish an answer to a reader’s question. Here’s a transcript of my answer to the reader’s question about how I handle criticism.

Hey Lisanne, how do you handle criticism? How do you feel when others are critical about what your work?

Thank you for your question. I appreciate criticism, for example, if it’s meant to help me improve or see things from a different perspective. Ultimately, criticism, just like creativity, is shaped by how someone views the world—nothing more, nothing less. That means others might see specific things I don’t, which can be useful, and the other way around.

I think what an artist needs more than discipline or talent is a vision. If you’re always changing what you do based on what other people say, you completely lose yourself and you become something that is constantly affected by what’s around you as opposed to something stable and authentic.

There is this concept of the ‘neutrality mindset’ that I love. The idea of this type of mindset is that you practice the habit of staying true to what you want to do, rather than focusing on the results. This way, you can detach from external validation more easily, whether it’s positive or negative. Therefore, the neutrality mindset allows you to stay ‘in the middle,’ making you more steady and resilient against outside noise.

So at times, there’s something valuable to be learned from others’ feedback. I absolutely appreciate it when someone takes the time to help me, but I also like to be picky with whether I take someone’s perspective to heart.

Because success to me is in the act of doing—making your ideas come alive. The goal of creating things for me is to see how far I can take it. In the end, I’m focused on bringing my own essence out, and I try to make my work a little better each time, pushing it to the next level. This means that I’m competing with myself, not others. That’s why the filter needs to be in your own ear. It’s my job to decide when to listen, to whom, for how long, and whether the parts help you grow. So it means trying to be in tune with my own heartbeat.

Yet when the criticism isn’t constructive, or when I didn’t ask for it, it can definitely feel a bit discouraging, especially if I’ve already put a lot of effort into an idea. I think it’s about finding a balance between a sense of pride, and the desire to grow and refine my work. It’s a learning process, which often involves some messiness, but ultimately, I try to recognize the constructive parts and use them as fuel to do even better next time.

How about you? How do you usually feel when you get critical feedback? Let me know in the comments.

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