Take criticism as notes, not orders. It’s still your name on the work.

Feedback arrives sounding like instructions, especially from someone whose opinion you respect, but it is not. It is a report on one person’s experience of your work, which is genuinely useful and still not a decision. Taking every note flattens a piece into a committee. Ignoring every note leaves you with no idea how it lands.

Collect notes without responding in the moment, then sit with them later and ask which ones point at something you already suspected. Those are the real ones. Act on those, thank everyone, and keep your name on the final call.