Calm, only calm Do not take everything too seriously and close to your heart. If you wrote a rebuke letter – forgive calmly and take a break. If you said something to his face – do not interrupt him. Listen calmly. Aggression in response only shows your weakness and will not bring you honor in the eyes of another.
Find a rational point
Chances are (unless the intent was to hurt or hurt on purpose), you’re being criticized to make it better. Think about what was pointed out to you, really has, and what you need to work on. Just don’t make excuses and try to prove yourself right. You can respectfully respond in the style of “thank you for your opinion, I’ll think about it” or “I heard you. And at your leisure, analyze the situation from the outside – perhaps there really is something to work on.
Clarify and elaborate
Ask the critic if you heard correctly, ask for a specific example and dot some I’s and cross some T’s. This works especially well when criticism comes from significant others or family members.
Try to understand the motives of the criticizer
If it’s your parents – that’s one thing, the boss, a subordinate, a reviewer of your work – these are different levels and require different responses. Try to understand what motivated the person when he expressed his criticism. Wanted to help, wanted to offend or throw you off balance, or just to jab? There are many options – think about what is behind it in your particular case. And then make a choice – take it as a hint, ignore it, or do something else. But practice shows that sometimes the best reaction is its absence.
What you definitely shouldn’t do:
Get indignant in response; make excuses; argue; insult your opponent; Take everything at face value; to take it too seriously. As Aristotle said, it is possible to avoid criticism-but only in one case: if you do nothing and represent nothing. In other cases it is impossible. It’s impossible to please everyone, so you shouldn’t take other people’s opinions too seriously.
