Feedback is a powerful tool for reflection and self-improvement. Can you take the heat?

BlogAllison ScharmannAugust 8, 2024self love, self improvement, self help, feedback, harsh feedback, criticism, skip the small talk, conversation, communicationComment

Why you need self-compassion in your life and how to do it (even when you don’t want to)

At Skip the Small Talks, we ask attendees to have compassion for others and for themselves as they try out new ways to hold conversations. It’s probably obvious why we care about people having compassion for each other at an event where strangers are getting to know each other for the first time, but equally if not more important in that context is self-compassion. That’s because any attempt at change or improvement generally goes much more smoothly if you’re not beating yourself up after every setback. Connecting genuinely often requires taking some risks (like sharing things that feel a little vulnerable), and having compassion for yourself when those risks don’t pan out the way you hope can help you continue taking some risks in the long-term, and can help make the learning process easier for you in the short-term.

BlogAshley KirsnerApril 5, 2018compassion, self-compassion, Skip the Small Talk, blogpost, skip the small talk, hotline, suicide hotline, listening, talking, self-love, vulnerability, genuine, communicating, communication, communication skills, coping skills, coping, distress tolerance, tolerating distress, resilience, psychological well-being, well-being, happiness, mood, happy, friends, friendship, strenghts, positive psychology, positivity, help, criticism, critique, be kind to yourself, worthy, worthiness, you are worthy, self-talk, positive self-talk, mental health, mental wellness, Skip the Small Talks, authentic, conversations, conversation, evolutionary psychology, evolution, negative, negativity bias, negativity, gratitude, asking for help, reaching out for help, reach out for help, reach out, reaching outComment

Three steps to make yourself bulletproof to criticism

I used to be awful at receiving critical feedback or anything I perceived as rejection. I was so bad at it that it led me to quit things I otherwise enjoyed. I went to musical theater camp as a middle schooler and got turned down for big parts for two summers, so I quit. As a dance team member in high school, I had to hear about how I could improve on a regular basis, so I quit. The pattern pervaded pretty much all aspects of my life for years.

Ashley KirsnerMarch 29, 2017bulletproof, criticism, feedback, boundaries, mistake, mistakes, imperfection, making mistakes, thanks for telling me, resilience, grit, positive reinforcement, reward, self-care, suicide hotline, how to deal with criticism, how to cope with criticism, how to criticism, how to take criticism, how to respond to criticism, what to say to criticism, what do you say to criticism, how to make yourself bulletproof to criticism, communication, how to communicate, how to improve communication, how to take feedback, how to take harsh feedback, how to take hard feedback, how to respond to feedback, skip the small talk, Skip the Small Talk, thanks for sharing, harsh criticism, harsh feedback, communicate better at work, how to communicate at work, office, STST, talk big, talk big not small, get to the point, how to get to the point, managing relationships, relationships Comments

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