Understanding the critics and what your anxiety is telling you
Do you believe in tipping points?
Situations that are seemingly unimportant and small, but end up being crucial to the solving of some problems that have been worrying you for quite some time.
I tend to feel anxious over stuff that I understand shouldn't hit me so hard. Behind every single one of those anxieties is a hidden truth that needs to find its way out of your chest.
Anxiety can be an unpleasant enemy. But it's hiding the truth. Think of it as the knock of your soul that tries to tell you something that's super important for your self or your environment.
And feeling this anxiety in similar situations over and over again just means you haven't heard or understood the language of your soul well enough.
I can become very anxious when someone criticizes my work. I don't like it because I am afraid they might be right.
It's easy when someone criticizes me directly, and tells me I'm rotten, stupid, incompetent. Fine.
But when they criticize my work and show me the possibility that what I do may affect the others, that's when my soul starts to burn.
Now there's two ways of viewing this. You can either be very upset because you are afraid because if you make a mistake, people will die because of you, everyone will know about it, you'll end up being publicly shamed, everyone will hate you, and you will have to leave your life and live in the woods where nobody will see you again. Very extreme scenario, but that's what your anxious brain believes.
Secondly, and more realistically, the critic might actually point you in the right direction and I see this as a tipping point. You eat up your pride and actually admit to yourself that you are making a mistake and that you may do something differently. Your anxiety finally makes sense and you understand why it was there in the first place.
In the second scenario, you realizing your mistakes, and using your anxiety as a catalyser to fix something in real life is actually a wonderful thing that can lead to either personal improvement or improvement on a business plan. It will help a knot in your stomach release and give you the energy to move forward with new strength.
However, it is important to understand that not all critics are made equal, not all of them want you to figure stuff out and help you. It takes courage and mental clarity to understand whether someone has the point and whether you should take your time to take their words for truth.