The Power Of Feedback

We all walk around all day living in our own little mental worlds. Our judgements and assesments about everything in this little personal world are distorted by our emotions, beliefs and habitual thoughts. It is because of this distortion that most of us have a very biased and subjective view on how things are going.

The only way we can snatch ourselves out of our little worlds and get to the core of what is really going on is to listen to the feedback we are getting. Feedback cuts through all of the emotional attachments we might have to a desired outcome.

I was reminded of the power of feedback when I was listening to an interview of the comedic actor Fred Armisen. He originally was a drummer in a punk rock band when he made this quick short movie of himself doing voices and imitating people. He went to South by Southwest with his band and also had a small showing of his short film. He quickly found out that no one cared about his band, but there was a serious buzz around his short that year.

In his mind, he was a drummer. The feedback from the public said something different. The feedback was telling him that his real talent was elsewhere. He listened to the feedback and eventually landed a spot on Saturday Night Live.

Initially, I started a youtube channel trying to help college students pick their college major. I had good information but, I was awkward and clunky in my delivery. No one was watching and the college kids that did watch were not all that moved. I remember my wife being very supportive with her words but her eyes were saying, “ehhh I don’t know”. I listened to the feedback and decided to start writing my ideas about everything on medium. From my first post, I noticed a completely different reaction. People were coming out of the woodworks to give me encouragement.

In my mind, I thought I could be great at everything but the feedback was telling me that I was strongest when I was writing.

I gave you these two examples to show what is possible when you get out of your own head and start listening to what the world is trying to tell you. When the feedback you are getting is filled with boredom and indifference, there is a good chance that you might want to shift your approach. I realize that there will always be those random hateful comments, but if you keep getting the same negative feedback over and over again…wake up and pay attention!

It will be blatantly obvious when you are onto something special. One of the great things about the internet is that we have data for everything now. If you are making videos, you can tell instantly which ones are a flop and which ones hold up over time. If you write a post you can tell by the comments and likes whether you are actually talking to people or just putting words on a page.

Your ego, fears, and past all cloud your judgement when it comes to your work/products. Start letting your audience help you determine what is a hit song and what is album filler.

Get over yourself and listen to what your public is trying to tell you.