Feedback Thoughts

Image Credit. Feedback? by Josefine H. Akerblom. Taken January 2015. Source: Flickr.  

The first article I read was Seven Ways to Crush Self-Doubt in Creative Work by John Spencer. I LOVED this article. I think that John Spencer's advice applies to creative work, a workplace, and self-doubt in everyday life. His advice is far-reaching as far as I'm concerned. The first piece of advice he offers is don't compare yourself to others. In a world where Instagram, Facebook, and other social medias make viewing even the most private moments of others lives easily accessible it's hard not to compare yourself to others. However, I see the importance of trying to make yourself your only comparison. If instead of spending energy focusing on other people's lives we spent that energy on our own lives we would be able to make progress more quickly and more concisely. Another tip he gave that stood out to me is to set goals that are within your control. When goals are set that are too large or too difficult it is easy to become unsure if you will ever meet it. However, if goals are broken into smaller goals it makes the process of reaching the end goal much more rewarding. I really enjoyed this article and while I only mentioned two of the seven points I thought that they were all helpful for facing self-doubt that can come from negative feedback or just everyday doubt. I am definitely going to try and implement some of these strategies into my life when I'm facing self-doubt.

The second article A Fixed Mindset Could Be Holding You Back- and Here's How to Change It by Anna Kelsey-Sugg and Anna Arnold was also very informative. I think that mindset impacts everything so I could see right off the back why it's important to keep this in mind when considering feedback. If my mindset starts off negative I am likely to take feedback more harshly, be less open to constructive criticism, and more likely to ignore what people are telling me. Learning to have a growth mindset may be difficult but I think that it is extremely important. If we can take the feedback we are given and grow from it we will learn from our mistakes more quickly. Feedback is important, but having a mindset that is open to it is even more important.