Stop Being So Critical

 
 

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This is an important element of self awareness to add to your toolbox.

I don’t care whether you’re a coworker, a friend, an employee, a leader, part of a team — we could all stand to be less critical.

It’s a behavior that doesn’t serve anyone.

Criticism is a behavior that doesn’t serve anyone.

Being overly critical doesn’t benefit any situation, relationship, or work team. And it certainly doesn’t make you more likable to be critical of other people, situations, or of any topic in general.

The Fix

Something I would love to see adopted by every person is the skill of catching yourself before voicing criticism — that simple pause to take inventory of your thoughts and reflect on whether they are beneficial to the conversation is important in reframing your mindset around this.

It is very powerful to choose simply to not say anything, rather than add negativity to a situation or experience.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you have to be fake and inauthentic as a person. This isn’t about faking positive emotions or pretending that you like things that you don’t. The idea is to not project your criticism onto others when unnecessary. It is very powerful to choose simply to not say anything, rather than add negativity to a situation or experience.

There’s something about our culture that loves to label things as “good” or “bad”, but the reality is that things aren’t 100% black and white, nothing and no one is perfect, and the world is not is desperate need of more cynicism.

If we could all soften our inner critics, the world would be so much more enjoyable.


Related Blogs:

Pros & Cons: Investing in Soft Skills

Changing Negative Behavior with “Three Nice Things”

How to Let Things Go

Don’t “Take it Out” on the Wrong Person

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This article was created by Galen Emanuele for the #culturedrop. Free leadership and team culture content in less than 5 minutes a week. Check out the rest of this month's content and subscribe to the Culture Drop at https://bit.ly/culturedrop 

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