Journaling Prompts for Receiving Criticism Gracefully
Criticism can feel like an attack, especially when your nervous system has learned to read judgment as a threat to your safety. The flush of shame, the defensive reflex, the immediate internal argument—these reactions are human and common. But they often prevent you from hearing what the criticism was actually saying, some of which might be useful. Writing about a specific piece of criticism—when you're not in the moment of it—can help you separate the sting from the substance, and figure out what, if anything, you actually want to do with it.
Journaling Prompts
Write about a specific piece of criticism you recently received. Describe it plainly—what was said, by whom, in what context. Then write your immediate internal reaction, without censoring it.
Now try to look at the criticism as purely information, separate from the delivery and the relationship. Is there any part of it that is accurate? Any kernel of something worth considering?
What made this particular criticism land so hard? Was it touching on a fear you already carry, something you're already uncertain about, an older wound?
What would it look like to genuinely use this feedback—not to punish yourself with it, but to let it inform something? What would you actually do differently?
What would you need to believe about your own worth for criticism to feel less existential—more like feedback about a behavior and less like a verdict about who you are?