Written by Vaania Bhagat, a grade 9 student.

Fear of feedback is a condition that deprives us of being the best versions of ourselves. We live in an era bombarded with social media websites where everyone would possibly “repost” or “comment” benevolently on our work and thoughts but wouldn’t possibly mean it.

In fact, it has been scientifically proven that everyone comes up with some sort of negative opinion after going through something!

So now the question arises; why would the others miss an opportunity to tell us how to improve our work? The simplest answer to this is that they don’t want their thoughts to be in denial with ours. Because no matter how much we try to ignore it or run away from it; nobody likes both sides of performance reviews! We are terrified by the thought of hearing nothing but criticism. In fact, most of us respond even to the mildest criticism with stonewalling, anger, or tears. And as a result, everyone keeps quiet and says as little as possible.

This is actually unfortunate as, deep down; most people need help figuring out how they can improve their performance and broaden their horizons. I myself, always hated feedback and avoided it as much as I could…

I tried to make assumptions about what others thought of my work instead of taking feedback openly. It was my dad who made me realize that acknowledging negative emotions actually leads to growing positive responses in the long run!

It has been clinically proven that those who don’t accept feedback often manifest themselves in psychologically maladaptive behaviors such as denial, brooding, and jealousy. So, what can be done to overcome this fear which has slowly become a colossal issue in itself?

We must start with reframing fear and criticism constructively… Developing realistic goals, creating support systems, and rewarding ourselves for achievements are small measures that gradually have a positive impact… Absorbing feedback happily and taking an action toward change is something we should try and accomplish. This is, of course, easier said than done. But then again, even ‘Impossible’ says ‘I m possible’!