Feedback Thoughts

Silence the Critical Voices in Your Head

Something I liked about this post is that it wasn't a generic self-help article, but rather referenced the real-life experiences of one of the author's clients, which made it much more relatable. I enjoyed that it provided some good advice on how to combat self-doubt and self-criticism without feeling condescending. I also appreciated that one of the tips was so straightforward and simple, a five-to-one ratio of positive to negative voices. I think this is a great way to visualize negative thoughts when they feel like they are crowding your mind, it allows you to consciously find five positive thoughts to outnumber the negative one. This is a great activity to force you to focus on the positive. I also like that it talked about the ways in which we minimize ourselves and our achievement by disregarding it as being lucky or having lots of help. This is something I constantly struggle with, so I like that the article mentioned it and that it provided a simple solution such as simply rephrasing our answers. 

Why Rejection Hurts So Much -- And What to do about it

When I'm in a spiral of self-doubt I often wonder if I am crazy and why is it that nobody gets as upset as I do when they receive negative feedback/comments. As someone with anxiety and depression, usually, my mental illnesses are what make me fall into this negative cycle and make me catastrophize everything, but at least I know that it is my sick mind talking. Now it is great that I also know why rejection hurts, now I know where it comes from and it is very comforting, so that was something great to learn about. I also really liked the idea of boosting your own feelings through social connections. When I am feeling down about something I always turn to my closest friends, so in a way I was already implementing this tip, but it was nice to see it written down. 

Overall I think feedback can be a great resource when implemented correctly. Positive feedback is important because it increases one's self-esteem and self-confidence, but negative feedback is also crucial. The key aspect though is that negative feedback should never be given on its own, it should always be accompanied by things/methods/ways to improve. For example, if I say "Your introduction needs work" I am simply insulting the person's writing, but if I say "The introduction needs work, maybe you should consider dedicating more time to introducing so and so character and developing their background." The difference is that now the comment also offers a way to make things better, thus making the feedback much easier to receive, and the person much more likely to listen. I think feedback is great as long as it is useful, always used to help out and improve rather than simply point out bad things. 

Feedback Cat