Why Criticism Can Hurt so Much episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 23, 2026 · 6 MIN

Why Criticism Can Hurt so Much

from The School of Life · host tscol

Our difficulty in accepting criticism doesn’t arise from feeling it is undeserved, but rather the opposite. It confirms a secret belief in our own unworthiness. Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: https://t.ly/vv7l3 Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/c9hiJ FURTHER READING "To be criticised is never pleasant. It is rarely a good day when we have to read an unflattering social media post about ourselves, when we are given harsh feedback on a project or hear that we are being gossiped about by strangers. However, the question of how much criticism needs to hurt depends on something which has nothing to do with the specific attack we happen to face: how much we happen to like ourselves..." MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on SELF in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLself SOCIAL MEDIA Feel free to follow us at the links below: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theschooloflifelondon/ X: https://twitter.com/TheSchoolOfLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon/ CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Noelle Smith Design http://noelledoesartstuff.com/animation Title animation produced in collaboration with Vale Productions https://www.valeproductions.co.uk/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our difficulty in accepting criticism doesn’t arise from feeling it is undeserved, but rather the opposite. It confirms a secret belief in our own unworthiness. Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: https://t.ly/vv7l3 Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/c9hiJ FURTHER READING "To be criticised is never pleasant. It is rarely a good day when we have to read an unflattering social media post about ourselves, when we are given harsh feedback on a project or hear that we are being gossiped about by strangers. However, the question of how much criticism needs to hurt depends on something which has nothing to do with the specific attack we happen to face: how much we happen to like ourselves..." MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on SELF in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLself SOCIAL MEDIA Feel free to follow us at the links below: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theschooloflifelondon/ X: https://twitter.com/TheSchoolOfLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon/ CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Noelle Smith Design http://noelledoesartstuff.com/animation Title animation produced in collaboration with Vale Productions https://www.valeproductions.co.uk/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Why Criticism Can Hurt so Much

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This episode was published on June 23, 2026.

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Our difficulty in accepting criticism doesn’t arise from feeling it is undeserved, but rather the opposite. It confirms a secret belief in our own unworthiness. Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and...

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