Last week I shared Principle One from one of my all time favorite books Today We are Rich: Harnessing The Power of Total Confidence by Tim Sanders.
Principle number two is perhaps my all-time favorite, as Sanders tells a story in there that I hope to never soon forget. In case you’re not familiar with the book, it’s based on some great insight from his Grandma Billie.
Principle Two: Move the Conversation Forward

“Criticisms are like pecans. You can’t swallow a pecan whole, can you? You’d never be able to properly digest it. That’s what a nutcracker is for. Crack open the pecan; then you can get at the edible portion.

Do you struggle when someone gives you criticism, whether good or bad? A thousand thoughts fill your mind. I’m not good enough. My boss is going to replace me. My husband doesn’t love me anymore. I’m a failure. 
What if we treated criticism just like a pecan? Surely we can get something from every nut we crack open. Maybe your boss didn’t confront you the way you would like, but what can you learn from it? Your husband does love you, but you may have just received a dose of truth that you’re not perfect. You didn’t fail; you could just do better at a certain task.
Eat the nut, the part of the situation you can learn from. Toss the shell, the rest of the information that doesn’t matter and serves as no nutritional value.
I bet we would all be surprised at the room we allowed to let other positive information in if we weren’t holding on so tightly to those shells. I love what Tim says,

“You can always find a good bite in any information, even intense criticism. It says something about its author or about you–every time.

What step can you take today to toss the shell? Leave a comment below…