You will be criticised no matter what you do. Whatever you make, people form opinions — some approving, some not. “Even dead people have critics.” Since it arrives anyway, the better use of it is to learn from it rather than brace against it.

What it offers is a view from outside your own head: how other people think, how they see you and your actions, a glimpse of the countless other versions of reality being carried around you. Studied rather than swallowed, criticism becomes information.

And it has one job — to sharpen your decisions, not to halt you. “Take that different opinion and match it against yours, in light of your situation, and learn.” Input, not a verdict.