Being creative and self-critical

Healthy criticism can help refine our talents and creative projects in the pursuit of excellence. But when it is based on a excessive perfectionism or an unrealistic self concept, criticism can be destructive and self-limiting, eroding our creative assurance and vitality.

Many creative people, even when they have achieved recognition for their talents, may experience self-critical thoughts and insecurity.

Irish writer John Banville, just before receiving The Booker Prize [considered the world's most prestigious award for new fiction] was sure he would not win; "I tend to think all my books are bad,” he said.

Many talented film actors report they don’t watch their own movies. When you can be seen in close-ups on twenty foot high theater screens, it may be especially hard not to criticize your appearance and performance. Joaquin Phoenix has said he doesn't like how his teeth look, or his lips. Kate Winslet has admitted that before going off to a movie shoot, she sometimes thinks, “I’m a fraud, and they're going to fire me... I'm fat; I'm ugly.”

Highly creative and talented people are, according to research on giftedness, often susceptible to perfectionism and unreasonably high standards and expectations that can lead to exaggerated criticism.

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