Are you scared of feedback?

You know the worst thing about being scared of feedback? We live pretty much all our life with our own narrow perspective of our own potential  

The truth is, we are all nearly always capable of achieving much, much more than we currently achieve, in pretty much all areas of our lives, whether as a teacher, an AI engineer, a chef, or a CEO –  we simply lack a different perspective, a different skill-set, a different take on what we can do, a different appreciation of our potential 

So we stay, comfortably uncomfortable in our own ‘one day I will’ – but never do 

We often lack perspective on our own potential because we feel we don’t have the courage to shine a light into the blind-spots of our lives by reflecting on what we really want, and who can really help us do that. We do not Welcome Feedback   

Often this is because we are honestly a little bit scared of the outcome, believing that welcoming feedback in the most important areas of our lives will be like opening Pandora’s box. The potential for discomfort and disruption caused by learning where we truly are in a particular area of our life from another’s perspective, either good or bad, is too much to take on. Carl Rogers the eminent American psychologist had an interesting perspective on this, 

"The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change" 

For most of us, it’s easier to continue with being a little bit scared, holding back from truly accepting ourselves as we are. We miss different perspectives about our own potential, we miss learning new skills to futureproof our careers, we miss new ways of improving our relationships with our loved ones, we miss out on the joy of continually making progress, living our vision of a great life, and we miss numerous opportunities for unlocking our true potential. We stay a little bit scared and stick with what we know 

At Progressfull™ we are really curious about the disconnection between how, especially in the sporting arena, feedback is welcomed with voracity, and an almost visceral passion, yet in every other walk of life, human beings seem to hold back and recoil from any assessment, observation and critique of their approach – preferring to remain a little bit scared and oblivious to new perspectives. Perspectives that might unlock a new skill, an improved approach, and release untapped potential 

At Progressfull™ we are also curious with the reality that when it comes to ‘others’ – those we care deeply for, especially children – human beings aren't a little bit scared of welcoming feedback. Instead, a lot of us passionately believe and truly understand that in order for our children to be any good at anything, to learn and develop – great feedback from a great coach, mentor, tutor, or teacher – is the thing that really counts. It's the thing that makes the difference. We aren't a little bit scared about welcoming feedback in this situation, quite the opposite ...

In fact, we believe in welcoming feedback so much that we give up years’ worth of Saturdays to get our kids into a team with a great football coach, or we drive them miles for the best tennis tuition. We even move house to get them into the best school 

Yet when it comes to ourselves – we do the opposite – we run in the opposite direction, with our eyes and ears firmly shut, avoiding or dreading feedback believing it will be too unnerving or exposing, or simply dismissing it. We are a little bit scared, we are blindsided to our blind-spots. Even though we know that feedback is essential for any kind of development – both for our kids and for ourselves. Crazy eh? 

This is because receiving feedback sits at the junction of two conflicting human desires - we want to learn and grow, but we also want to be accepted just as we are right now 

So we have a disconnect… without feedback, we cannot attain excellence in any field ... we cannot perform at our best

and yet most of us, even typically outwardly successful musicians and start-up founders, avoid and often fear feedback ... all are a little bit scared of being on stage

What to do then? 

To help you gain a new perspective on your potential we created an Upskill (our name for a course) called Welcoming Feedback. Welcoming Feedback will help you to adopt the mind-set of the musicians in the illustration above, "If all the world is a stage, then let's make sure we perform at our best". Welcoming Feedback enables you to embrace, usher in, even roll out the red carpet for different perspectives and assessments on what you can do to fulfil your potential, to perform at your best, and make progress in your everyday life - at home, at work, in your whole life 

Welcoming Feedback includes step-by-step online videos, 121 Mentoring, bespoke Journals, private podcasts and purposeful self-reflection exercises designed to help you unlock your ability to Welcome Feedback, and live a life of progress, a life of new perspectives on your own potential so you stop being a little bit scared and start releasing your potential

Welcoming Feedback is all about us seeking and sharing the gift of feedback. It’s the best way to test and calibrate our self-perception and it’s a great way to help and support others by calling out positives and encouraging course corrections. Welcoming Feedback is about mastering the skills required to receive feedback well, drive our own learning and as a result unlock our potential. It’s about how to recognise and manage our resistance, how to engage in feedback conversations with confidence and curiosity, and even when the feedback seems wrong, how to find insight that might help us grow. It helps us to stop being a little bit scared, and to start releasing our potential as we adopt Carl Rogers approach accepting ourselves just as we are so change can begin

At Progressfull, we’ve picked the best insights, frameworks and tools from behavioural psychology, neuroscience and philosophy to create the models and content in Welcoming Feedback, enabling you to embrace, usher in, roll out the red carpet for diverse perspectives and feedback conversations with confidence and curiosity, open to the opportunities that will release your untapped potential

So open your eyes to changing your perspective, stop being a little bit scared and start to release your true potential! 

You can discover more about Welcoming Feedback here