STIFLING THE CRITIC

CRITICS, CRITICS, CRITICS EVERYWHERE

Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you do criticize him, you'll be a mile away and have his shoes. ~ Unknown

One Stop Barber Shop

Today, I went to cut my hair at my favorite joint ‘One Stop Barber Shop’ on Kenyatta Avenue in Nairobi’s central business district. Playing in the background was my favorite genre of music, Smooth Jazz, I found myself nodding my head to the seemingly unending back to back beats of David Benoit from his album ‘Freedom at Midnight’. Mean while I couldn’t help but notice a bunch of guys on the other side of the shop engaged in a heated soccer debate over what seemed to be a battle of funs over which is the best team in English premier league.  Now, for the record, I must admit that I am a die-hard fun of Arsenal FC; Dig it? The more the debate went on, the more the gunners got extremely criticized; the more I heard bad vibe; the more my wounded ego was awakened with the pain of loosing the ‘Carling Cup’ to Bolton Wanderers FC; and the embarrassment we got for being beaten by Barcelona FC at N Stadium a couple weeks ago kicking us out of the Champions League race and now the grim reality facing the Arsenal Soccer Club of not getting a hold of the EPL Cup.

Keeping My Cool

I was restless, but I had to keep my cool to allow my barber an easy time doing what he knows best, cut my hair. However I kept feeling a prompting within me to stand up and shut this guys down from howling criticism and insults over gunners players. I was agitated & distraught then it hit me, There’s no shortage of critics, in fact some are paid a lot of money to give us an earful of their analysis but critics don’t change the world. Instead the world is impacted by those on the edge willing to take a chance at doing something significant while risking criticism and failure. Kenneth Tyan referred to the critic as someone who “knows the way but can’t drive the car.” In Soccer speak ~ They know ‘how to score,’ but won’t play’.

 “One mustn't criticize other people on grounds where he can't stand perpendicular himself” ~ Mark Twain

There’s The Critics, Then There’s Everyone Else

There’s the critic and then there’s everyone else – the players (gunners), the athlete, the writer, the artist, the politician, the millionaire, the industry captains, the blogger, the leader… you know, the people risking criticism by doing something. The critic is rarely the one with answers or historical achievement. He’s far too busy measuring the limit of possibilities to be bothered with pushing those boundaries to new heights. He can recount in painstaking detail what should or should not have been done, how things aren’t quite right, how they don’t measure up, align with, or stack up. He’s that guy.  He’s the armchair Robin Van Persie soccer striker who could have picked up that terrific pass and made a clinical finish to put the gunners in the lead, never mind that he can’t hold onto a job and the last time he actually ran somewhere was when nature demanded that he takes a Bio-break to relieve himself.

Those who can -- do. Those who can't -- criticize. ~Unknown Source 

But isn’t there an element of the critic within each of us?

Somewhere inside each of us lurks an enemy ready to silence our best ideas and bury our loftiest dreams. It’s this internal critic who insists that limits must precede possibilities.  He draws hard lines around our creativity and insists upon playing it safe to avoid unknown outcomes. He’s there to edit before we’ve even begun our “crappy first draft.” Why? Plain and simple, it’s pretty much easier to talk about action than to take action. I must confess, I’ve been guilty of this several times as well.

‘Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how it's done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves.’ ~ Brendan Behan

When was the last time the critic within gave you permission to:

Create something extraordinary?

Restore something remarkable?

Build something from nothing?

Overcome seemly insurmountable odds?

Become more than who you were yesterday?

Help someone accomplish greatness?

Give something with impact?

Contribute something lasting?

‘If you believe in what you are doing, then let nothing hold you up in your work. Much of the best work of the world has been done against seeming impossibilities. The thing is to get the work done.’ ~Dale Carnegie

CRUSHING THE CRITIC

There’s not a critic alive that can hinder the determined person who has a strong work ethic and purpose. Without the critic dictating the possibilities, we end up thinking and behaving differently. Suddenly our entire outlook shifts. Yesterday and tomorrow become lower priorities and right now becomes the most important moment. The critic is most concerned with past performances, and future uncertainties. It’s always yesterday and tomorrow… looking back and looking ahead…while missing the opportunity and beauty of the present moment.

Now Faith Is…

The NOW moment is where we make things happen. It’s the only place where we can take our next action and discover the effortless flow that occurs only while we are taking action. In that moment, we aren’t thinking about the paragraph we just wrote, the ball we just dropped,  the last sales rejection received or who just left our lives. We are caught up in what we are currently doing – capturing our words, scoring the goal, placing a smile on someone’s face or fulfilling a customers need. When we silence the critic, we are free to take chances and when we do that our passion can propel us to unknown moments of greatness.

 We crush the critic when we:

Give ourselves permission to have fun.

Take action without analysis.

Allow ourselves creative blocks without interruption.

Remain in the moment.

Fall in love with the process.

 When the critic shows up, it’s important to remember the words of Theodore Roosevelt.

‘It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.’

“Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing”~ Aristotle

Now it’s your turn to share how you’re crushing the critic.

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