Evelyn Montgomery's Blog - Posts Tagged "aristotle"
Mastering how to remain calm
We are all familiar with the saying, “everyone is a critic,” or perhaps “everyone is their own worst critic.”
Being the editor of a community newspaper, I get my fair share of criticism. Not just from the readers, but from my colleagues as well.
I was told a long time ago, when I first entered my career, that in order to be successful and not burn out in this business as a journalist I will need to develop a thick skin.
I will be honest, I tend to be way too sensitive at times.
But over the years, and many critics later, I am learning to develop a stronger shell, so to say, for lack of better words.
To quote Aristotle, “There is only one way to avoid criticism; do nothing, say nothing and be nothing.”
One of the hardest things to accept in life, as many of us know, is how impossible it is to please everyone. No matter what you do, or how you say something, if enough people are present there will always be one person who has the right to their opinion that thinks you could have handled things differently.
Some people like to imply constructive criticism is necessary for growth. While I do agree partially with that statement, I do not believe there really is a such a thing as constructive criticism.
All criticism is destructive.
Whether it makes the recipient of the criticism stop and think in order to change, or if the person criticizing realizes their errors and apologizes, maybe even too much damage is done and it destroys a relationship; criticism, when handled right or wrong, is always destructive.
The key is defusing the situation as much as possible so as not to be self-destructive in the process.
I read a quote recently from Bruce Lee which read, “One of the best lessons you can learn in life is to master how to remain calm.”
As one of arguably the greatest martial artists of all time, I think everyone can take a lesson out of Lee’s philosophy on life.
For after all, “Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man’s growth without destroying his roots.”
Personal growth takes both sunshine and rain, therefore making it absolutely necessary to accept both compliments and criticism graciously and with an open mind.
Perhaps many of us tend to react poorly to critics who cross our path, simply because we have a subconscious desire to be ruined by praise rather than saved by criticism. Although, if we can learn to take criticism seriously, but not personally, we will be better off as we develop the skill to grow from the truth and let the rest of it roll right off our backs.
Criticism is arguably a great price of the ambitious. Not everything we say and do will be right, or well received, and we all would be better off if we learn to be ok with the simplicity of that one small fact.
One of the greatest lessons in life is learning to accept everything with an open mind and not let it get to our hearts.
I encourage every reader out there to do the same because the world has enough critics already, and wouldn’t we all be better off to not only encourage others but be encouraged as well?
Being the editor of a community newspaper, I get my fair share of criticism. Not just from the readers, but from my colleagues as well.
I was told a long time ago, when I first entered my career, that in order to be successful and not burn out in this business as a journalist I will need to develop a thick skin.
I will be honest, I tend to be way too sensitive at times.
But over the years, and many critics later, I am learning to develop a stronger shell, so to say, for lack of better words.
To quote Aristotle, “There is only one way to avoid criticism; do nothing, say nothing and be nothing.”
One of the hardest things to accept in life, as many of us know, is how impossible it is to please everyone. No matter what you do, or how you say something, if enough people are present there will always be one person who has the right to their opinion that thinks you could have handled things differently.
Some people like to imply constructive criticism is necessary for growth. While I do agree partially with that statement, I do not believe there really is a such a thing as constructive criticism.
All criticism is destructive.
Whether it makes the recipient of the criticism stop and think in order to change, or if the person criticizing realizes their errors and apologizes, maybe even too much damage is done and it destroys a relationship; criticism, when handled right or wrong, is always destructive.
The key is defusing the situation as much as possible so as not to be self-destructive in the process.
I read a quote recently from Bruce Lee which read, “One of the best lessons you can learn in life is to master how to remain calm.”
As one of arguably the greatest martial artists of all time, I think everyone can take a lesson out of Lee’s philosophy on life.
For after all, “Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man’s growth without destroying his roots.”
Personal growth takes both sunshine and rain, therefore making it absolutely necessary to accept both compliments and criticism graciously and with an open mind.
Perhaps many of us tend to react poorly to critics who cross our path, simply because we have a subconscious desire to be ruined by praise rather than saved by criticism. Although, if we can learn to take criticism seriously, but not personally, we will be better off as we develop the skill to grow from the truth and let the rest of it roll right off our backs.
Criticism is arguably a great price of the ambitious. Not everything we say and do will be right, or well received, and we all would be better off if we learn to be ok with the simplicity of that one small fact.
One of the greatest lessons in life is learning to accept everything with an open mind and not let it get to our hearts.
I encourage every reader out there to do the same because the world has enough critics already, and wouldn’t we all be better off to not only encourage others but be encouraged as well?
