Mark McGuinness, Creative Business Coach

mark mcguinnessSo I’m excited to talk today with Mark McGuinness, a creative business coach who’s really a thought leader in his field. He’s a trained psychotherapist and also a poet, and he’s moved his focus into working with creative professionals to help them make sense of my jargon around doing great work. (You can check out an interview Mark did with me here.)

I think everyone should hear what he has to say on the subject of feedback and how to learn from it.

In this interview, Mark and I discuss:

  • The value in learning to bounce back from criticism and rejection
  • Why it’s important to acknowledge feelings of disappointment
  • How to reframe your inner critic to be helpful rather than hurtful
  • The difference between “action criticism” and “FYI criticism”
  • The fact that feedback is opinion, not truth
  • How to amplify who you really are

(Scroll down for more in-depth podcast notes.)

Listen to my interview with Mark McGuinness

0:00:00: Mark fills Michael in on his experiences as a psychotherapist, poet and Zen practitioner, explaining how they all led to where he is today.

0:05:03: Mark draws a parallel between literally rolling with the punches in Aikido and being able to bounce back from rejection in the business world.

0:10:03: Michael and Mark discuss the importance of recognizing feelings of disappointment from rejection or criticism, rather than trying to ignore them.

0:15:00: Mark explains that it’s important to reframe one’s inner critic so that it can be helpful rather than hurtful. He and Michael talk about relevant “action criticism” vs. irrelevant “FYI criticism,” and reflect on examples of artists who faced plenty of FYI criticism but went on to great success.

0:20:03: Michael points out that feedback is opinion, not truth, and that people should “take what’s useful and ignore the rest.” He asks Mark how we can amplify who we really are, as opposed to settling for mediocrity. Citing an example from his own life, Mark illustrates why it’s important to be yourself, and notes that those you really want to work with will be intrigued by who you are.

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