ever get feedback that rattled you, even if it was meant to help and today's thrive in five. I'm giving you strategies to handle criticism without spiraling so that you can grow from it and not shut down.

Welcome back to Thrive in Five, where I give you a quick burst of motivation and productivity in five minutes or less. I'm Cindy, your host, a self-made entrepreneur, busy mom, and a business coach. I've built and sold several digital businesses ranging from five to six figure successes. So when it comes to managing time and priorities in both life and work, I get it. I've been there and I am here to help you thrive.

Let's be honest. Criticism stings, even when it's meant to help, it can hit us in the gut. And if you're someone who pours your heart and soul into your work, your business. Your life, your parenting. It's easy to take feedback personally, but here's the truth. Criticism doesn't have to crush your confidence. It can actually build it if you learn how to respond instead of react. So let's shift the mindset and talk about how to use feedback as fuel. The first thing you need to do is pause before reacting. Your first response is usually emotional and not rational, and that's normal. So when you receive criticism, take a breath, don't respond right away. Give yourself a moment or a few hours if you need to, to separate yourself from what's being critiqued. You are not your product, your post, your pitch. You are a person who can learn, lead, and grow. The next thing you need to do is ask yourself what part of this is useful? Not all criticism is valid, but most of it holds something we can learn from. So try this. What's the intention behind this feedback? Is there truth that I can take from it even if the delivery wasn't great? What would the next level version of me take away from this? That mindset turns feedback into a tool and not a threat. Next, you're gonna use it to refine and not define. Feedback is data and it tells you what worked and what didn't and what could be better. Use it to improve your systems, your messaging, or your delivery, not your worth. Confidence doesn't mean ignoring feedback. It means being secure enough to sort through it and decide what to do with it. This works because when you take the emotional charge out of criticism and use it as information, you stay grounded. You protect your confidence while staying open to growth, and that's how you keep showing up and getting better. Let's recap your action steps to implement this today. Reflect on a recent piece of feedback. What's one insight that you could use? Create a grounding phrase like this is information, not identity. Remind yourself, confidence and coachability can exist at the same time. Growth-minded people aren't afraid of feedback. They are fueled by it, and you, you are growing faster than you think.