Feedback Thoughts

Growing up I have always been expected to do the best, to be perfect, and to make no mistakes. In a traditional Asian household, I was expected to be a certain way or should I say, the perfect way. Critics were all I heard as a child, a teenager, and at most times now as an adult. Sometimes, I hear it in my own head. Whether it is in an interview "what are you saying" "you aren't making any sense" or even in an exam "you should know this", I am always bound to critic myself even when I do not mean to. Sabrina Nawaz makes a great point in her article Silence the Critical Voices in Your Head. All the echoes of negative thoughts in my head that I think would push me to my goal are actually preventing me from reaching them. As Nawaz emphasizes, we rely on dissecting our weaknesses to further our potential but fail to realize that most of our potential lies in our strength. I really liked how Nawaz was so relatable for me personally. Every sentence in this article was a "YES" moment for me. In Joe Almeida's article How to Tame Your Inner Critic: A Simple Habit to Rewire Your Brain, he introduces reality-based self-congratulation (REBS) as a counterattack to the negative critics in our heads. REBS could be very beneficial to our mind in promoting healthy thoughts. Almeida breaks it down really well and it made me excited to try. This method seems easy but very hard for me to do as it is extremely hard to break my habit. Instead of being my strict Asian mom in my head, I should be my encouraging friend instead. Wish me luck on this part.

When I look back to my past, I have done better and succeeded more when I receive encouraging feedback. I have had professors in the past telling me "very nice essay, but you aggravate me" which was honestly the worst experience I've experienced in college. I have heard critics all my life but what I found out is most of them aren't really critics, they are just telling me whether I am right or wrong, or whether I fail or pass. Telling someone they fail/pass or they are right/wrong is no help at all. Feedbacks are important as they provide the blueprints for improvements.

A beautiful quote from Healthy Place