5 Helpful Ways to Deal With and Bounce Back from a Bad Review
At some point in your career, it’s inevitable that someone won’t like your work. If they’re reviewers, they might even write about it and publish it for all to see. If you’re reeling from a bad review, here are five strategies to help you not only handle a negative performance review but bounce back better than ever.
1. Take a step back.
Reading negative things about yourself can feel like a personal attack. If you’re feeling triggered or upset by these bad reviews, try to give it some space.
Don’t waste energy scouring the internet for good reviews (potentially poring through even more negative reviews in the process) or thinking of all the ways to respond to a bad review.
Instead, do something that helps ground you, clear your head and regulate your nervous system. Try engaging with something that makes you feel positive and strong.
After all, the review will still be there when you’re ready to come back to it with a calmer mindset.
2. Apply context.
Not all reviews (or reviewers) are made the same. Before owning the words, know where they are coming from and who is paying for them.
Ask yourself the following questions to help you decide how much the negative performance review really matters:
Have you had contact with this reviewer or publication before? Do you respect their work? What kind of reviews do they give artists or shows you admire? Is this an actual review from a career critic, or an opinion from a stranger on the internet?
3. Determine what can be gained.
Once you have figured out what weight you are giving these words, try to be objective. Is there anything that can be learned and used in the future? What, if anything, about the negative review can serve your growth as an artist?
There is no shame in having ups and downs in your career (it happens to everyone). Not every show or performance will be your best. Negative criticism of one performance does not define your body of work, or you as an artist. Take what lessons contribute to growth and leave the rest.
4. Give yourself space to react.
It’s OK to get your feelings hurt. It’s OK to feel embarrassed or sad or angry. Feeling blue doesn’t mean that you won’t learn anything or that you’re not strong enough to handle it. It’s just a natural part of the process. Give yourself a little time to wallow, go get ice cream, vent to a friend or do whatever you need to do to get through it.
5. Let go.
When you’ve given it some distance, processed any personal feelings about the bad review and wrung out anything instructive or positive from the experience, it’s time to let it go.
People who read that review will forget it.
The person who wrote that review will forget it.
You shouldn’t have to keep these words in your head any longer.
If you’re having trouble letting go, engage in activities and with people that make you feel strong and confident about your work and yourself.
Pour that energy into building yourself back up.
Just like good reviews, bad reviews are part of the package. They don’t deserve more weight than any other part of the process.
At the end of the day, a review is an opinion based on someone’s overall experience with the end product. They don’t know what went into the process, what conditions it was made under or what may have changed along the way.
The most important opinion of your worth as an artist (and the only one that matters) is your own.
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