It may seem obvious that being overly critical and criticizing our customers, clients, prospects, colleagues, vendors, etc.—all those people we come in contact with as we are running our home businesses—can affect our reputation and have a negative influence on our relationships, but you may not realize what a negative impact it can have on you. All that criticizing can cause you to feel negatively about your home business operations and not too eager to get down to work every day…
Negative energy is negative energy—whether it is coming from someone else or we are creating it ourselves. Even if we are feeling nasty or critical toward someone else, it has a tendency to come back around and bite us too. After all, consider how hard it can be to stay motivated and excited if you are constantly grumbling about the people you come in contact with in your business. Even if you are convinced that you are a dazzling star and it is everyone else who is causing grief, that negative energy and critical opinions are swirling around your business operations and can really bring you down.
Nobody likes to be criticized and you may think that you are just “telling the truth” or trying to be “helpful”—but is it really? While there is such a thing as constructive criticism and it can be helpful, often what we try to justify as constructive criticism is really just aggravation laced with value judgments and these can be an impediment to loyal, lasting, productive work relationships.
So, even if you do not think you are being self-critical, as long as you are criticizing and talking negative about those people who are part of your business operations, you are likely hurting yourself, your motivation, and your dedication to your business in the process.