The Importance of Embracing Criticism: A Lesson from History and Experience

People often hear that embracing criticism is crucial for success, but few are told how to do it effectively. One common trait among the greatest leaders and change-makers throughout history is their ability to take and act upon criticism. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, one of India's most revered kings, was known for receiving criticism from everyone, regardless of their social status. Even the Prime Minister of the state would not hesitate to share his thoughts with him.

In modern times, Elon Musk, a well-known entrepreneur and innovator, has also spoken about the importance of embracing criticism. When asked about the most difficult thing in his life at a conference, he revealed that it was not related to his ambitious projects like colonizing Mars or making reusable rockets, but rather understanding and acting on feedback from others.

To gain a deeper understanding of how to embrace criticism effectively, let's take a look at an example from history. In 1846, Europe was going through one of its darkest times, with a major disease known as the "black death of child bed" claiming thousands of lives, especially among new mothers who were succumbing to Puerperal fever. Despite extensive research and financial investment, no one could identify the cause of this deadly disease until Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, an Austrian physician, publicly criticized the medical practices of his time.

Semmelweis observed that doctors performing autopsies in the morning would often deliver babies in the afternoon, causing the Puerperal fever to spread from dead bodies to healthy mothers' bodies. His solution was simple: washing hands and instruments with chlorine. If only he had been listened to earlier, this deadly disease could have been eradicated much sooner.

Today, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis is remembered as a hero who saved countless lives with his radical idea. However, during his lifetime, he faced ridicule and dismissal from the medical community, which ultimately led to his tragic demise in a mental asylum. This story highlights the importance of embracing criticism and acting upon it, lest we risk missing out on opportunities for growth and success.

In today's world, where genuine friends are hard to find and dedicated haters lurk around every corner, learning to take constructive feedback is more crucial than ever. But how do ordinary people like us filter through the chaos and discern what truly matters? The answer lies in understanding the different types of critics who will offer us feedback.

There are four broad categories of people who will criticize us: haters, innocent critics, sweet talkers, and those who fall somewhere in between. Haters are individuals who will only criticize us to bring us down. Innocent critics may give us advice that seems well-intentioned but is actually misguided or based on outdated information. Sweet talkers will praise us so much that we become complacent and lose sight of what really matters.

So, how do we distinguish between these categories? Haters can be blocked from our lives and social media, while innocent critics should be met with a critical eye before taking their advice seriously. Sweet talkers require us to remind ourselves that validation is not the same as constructive feedback. By understanding these different types of critics and knowing how to handle them, we can learn to embrace criticism in a way that fosters growth and improvement.

One effective approach to receiving criticism is to ask three simple questions: "What's working?" "What's not working?" and "How can I improve?" By asking these questions, we begin to receive constructive feedback from our critics. We start to navigate through both the good and the bad, urging ourselves to think about new possibilities for improvement.

Once we have received all the feedback, it's essential to jot down what works best for us and work on implementing those changes. Then comes the most important question of all: how do we process this feedback and decide whom to listen to and who not to?

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enPeople did you ever notice that we all are told sincechildhoodthat the habit of embracing criticism is the stepping stoneto success.But, nobody ever tells us how exactly do you embracecriticism ?If you look at the greatest leaders of all time, thegreatest change makers of all time.The one thing you will find common in all of themis their ability to take and act upon the criticism thatthey receive.Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, one of the greatest kings whoever lived in this countrywas primarily known to take criticism from everyone.For him it really did not matter whether it is coming froman ordinary villager or the prime minister of the statehimself.A modern day example of the same is Elon Musk,you know what, Elon Musk was once asked at a conferenceas to what exactly is the most difficult thing in his life.Now, considering the fact that he is already doing crazythings likecolonising the Mars and making reusable rockets.You would think that his most difficult thing would berelated toeither one of these crazy things that he is doing.But you know what he said, and I quote,And here's where the question arises, as to why is thishabit so so importantand more importantly, how can ordinary people like you andme learn to take criticism the right way.To give you a deeper understanding of the same, I want totake you back to 1846, Europe.For those of you do not know, this was one of the darkesttimes in the European historywherein there was a major disease that was on the rise.This disease was called the black death of child bedwherein as soon as the mothers gave birth to their childrenthey used to die out of something called the Puerperalfever.And just like the Covid-19 death toll todaythere used to be a consistent increase in the deaths ofmothers.And even after years of research and millions of dollarsinto spendingno one could actually find out what exactly caused thisproblem.But amidst all of this chaos, there was this one guy by thename Dr Ignaz Semmelweis.He very openly started criticising the doctors and wasscreaming out the solution in every way possible.And he did everything in his capacity to get his word outand prove the solution to the world.But you know what, nobody listened to him and the entiresociety, especially the doctorsthey called him crazy for decades.And this poor man died in a mental asylum.But you know what, after years of 'Research & Development'.One fine day, after multiple references, the doctorsactually tried out a solutionGuess what ? The Puerperal fever was gone like thisYou know what his solution was ? It was a three word answerWASH YOUR HANDSAs it turns out, Dr Ignaz had made an observationthat the doctors were doing the deliveries in the afternoonafter conducting the autopsies in the morningwhich is why the disease got passed on from the dead bodiesinto the mother's bodywhich is why even healthy mothers were dying out of thepuerperal fever.So all they had to do was wash their hands and instrumentswith Chlorineand one of the deadliest disease in the history could havebeen eradicaed very very easily.Today, Dr Ignaz is considered to be a legend and he isregarded as the 'saviour of mothers'.But all throughout those years while the doctors were tooproud to admit their flaws,god knows how many mothers went inside the ward hoping thatthey would be able to see their babiesonly to come of in body bags.God knows how many children in that generation grew upwithout a motherjust because of the futile ego of the doctors who considerthemselves next to god.This is the reason why feedback and criticism is very veryimportant.This story also tells us that criticism is a double edgedsword.If taken the right way, it will lead you to greatnessand at the same time if not taken the right way, it willbecome the graveyard of your success.So now the question is, in this big bad world while we havegot only a few genuine well wishersand on the other side we have got these dedicated haters whowill go out of the way just to pull you downand then we have got these people who often sugarcoat theiranswers just to keep their imageregardless of how pathetic your condition is.How do you exactly filter through this chaos and take thefeedback that really matters ?The answer to this question comes from this book called theculture codewherein Daniel Coyle talks about the methodwhich is used by one of the greatest basketball coaches ofall timewho goes by the name Gregg Popovich.And this method is very famously known as the magicalfeedback.And you can use this magical feedback technique by askingthree questions to your criticEventually, you will realize that you are gettingconstructive feedback.These 3 questions are:That's it.Once you begin to ask these questions, automatically youwill begin to receive constructive feedback from yourcriticsbecause these questions help the viewer navigate throughboth the good and the badand urges him/her to think about the new possibilites ofimprovementwhich is what brings constructive feedback.Once you get all these answers, it's time to jot them downAnd work upon treating what works best for you and work uponwhat is notThen comes the most important question of allHow do you exactly process this feedbackand how do you decide whom to listen to and who not to.Well always remember, people, that there are 4 broadcategories of people who will criticise you.The first category of the people are the haters.These are the people who will criticise you just to pull youdownand if you start taking them seriously it will mess up withyour focus and stifle your growth.So, block them both from your life and social media and itwill work wonders for you.The second category of people are innocent critics.These are people who love you a lot but might sometimes giveyou baseless advice.For example, your parents love you a lot that is why theymight push you to take a so called safe career.But you need to remember one thing; that their intent isnever bad but their advice very well could be.So, never ever take their advice without giving it a clearthoughtIf it makes sense to you, work upon it,if not, learn to ignore it.But the one thing that you need to remember is that youshould never ever disrespect thembecause today they might be giving you baseless advicebut tomorrow they could be giving you a sensible advicebecause ultimately their intent is not evil.But then, if you begin to disrespect themthey might eventually stop giving you feedback which is veryvery bad.With that we move on to the third category and these aresweet talkers.These are people who will praise you so much that you willknowingly or unknowingly incline towards themjust to get validation.And this is where you need to remind yourself that\"Ego is the anaesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity\"I repeatSo definitely listen to the sweet talkers but don't evertake them seriously.And last and most importantly we have got constructivecriticsThese are people who love you a lot and will give youfeedback that might sound very harsh at the beginningbut is very very important.This could be a professor who really cares for youthis could be your best friend or even your partner.And you know what, never ever leave these people and alwaysjot down what they say.And sometimes they might give you baseless advice becausenobody is perfectbut do make sure to jot down their criticism and workobssessively on it.And once you start doing this, you will begin to witnessexponential growthin whatever aspect you're taking criticism for.This could be your personal life, professional life and thiscould even be your own business.And if you do this I am 100% sure that nobody in thisgoddamn world can stop you from achieving greatnessregardless of what you're doing right now.And every time it gets difficult to gulp down a harshfeedback just tell yourself one thingCriticism is that stone that people will throw at you allthe timebut it is you who needs to decide to whether to build thecastle of your greatnessor the graveyard of your success.Now, let that sink in, and think about it for a while.That's all from my side for today guys, if you learntsomething valuableplease make sure to hit the like buttonso that you can let the YouTube algorithm know that youloved the videoAnd more importantly to support our work, please subscribeto our channel.Thank you so much for watching !I'll see you on Tuesday and have a wonderful weekend.Bye Bye\n"