Feedback and It's Importance

“Have the humility to ask for feedback, but the ability to not take it as gospel.”
- Gary Vaynerchuk

This quote has been spinning in my head the past week while listening to the Gary V podcast. Whether running a business, raising kids, or being an employee, feedback is essential. But, unfortunately, sometimes, we can take it beyond its purpose. If the input is too optimistic, it can give us a false sense of how we're doing. If it is too negative, it can halt us and make us question our very being, shaking our confidence.

We live in a world today where there is more judgment than ever with less accountability than ever. With feedback coming at us in all directions, at all times, you must know who you are and what you stand for.

Identifying these items about yourself is one thing, but being able to articulate them and not waiver on them when the winds of life start to make you sway is another. As a parent, my kids give me feedback all the time, and usually, it is the most accurate and the most gut-wrenching since it hits on one of the most vulnerable jobs for me: being a mom. Likewise, we ask for feedback from partners and clients insatiably in business, yet this is the most challenging place for me to simmer on the feedback and not instantly react or defend.

Hopefully, this made you pause and think just a little longer today. Where are you getting feedback that warrants making a few changes? And where are you getting feedback that makes you take a moment and move on?

‍