Getting Feedback is tough, Listening to it is Tougher

The feedback is the most valuable thing you can get on the road to creating something meaningful.

Getting real-world feedback is taught by itself. But it is only half of the problem.

Listening to it is also a challenge.

I regularly preach in my content that getting feedback from the real world is a critical part of building a product.

Last week I put my money where my mouse is.

I asked several friends of mine to give their opinion on the PDF guide I am working on. I will launch it in a couple of weeks, so I wanted to fix what I missed before it.

Feedback came.

It was Painful! My immediate reaction was shitty.

The problem wasn’t in the guys whom I asked for feedback. It was in me.

They are fantastic, thanks to everyone who gave their honest opinion.

The problem was that I overidentified myself with my work. I reflected the judgment of my work on me as a person.

“The professional cannot take rejection personally because to do so reinforces Resistance. Editors are not the enemy; critics are not the endemy. Resistance is the enemy. The battle is insde our own heads. We cannot let extarnal cricsm, even if it’s true, fortify our internal foe. That foe is strong enaugh already.”

- The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield

After I cooled down, I found such valuable pieces of advice that made my work way better. If I wouldn’t listen to it with a cold head, I would just lose all the value, my friends kindly gave me!

Learn to listen to feedback!

To make feedback valuable you need not only ask for it but also to use it.

Don’t over-identify your work with yourself. You aren’t your work! Read feedback to find things you can improve to use to your advantage.

Create, always ask for feedback, and listen to it.