Why do I want to be criticized?

Wanting criticism is normal, completely and utterly, even though that might seem rather unlikely. Novak Djokovic, the world famous tennis superstar, prefers to be told what he did wrong rather than what he did right, so that he can learn from those mistakes and become a better player - the type of criticism you'll get is the type of criticism you'll most likely receive, be it constructive, kind and compassionate, or negative, destructive and hurtful. Wanting to be criticised is all a part of what makes you who you are, nay, makes you a better person, sometimes! Being criticised is important, in some cases, and it's not something to feel ashamed of.

Perhaps you long for a meaningful connection with someone or people? For me, my closest friends are the ones willing to constructively critique me. They are the ones, I feel, that want me to grow, be better. Those fierce conversations are the ones that make me feel like I am moving forward and part of something bigger. I had a manager at work, alot younger than me, that criticised something I did at work. I respected him so much for that because not only did he pull me into another room to do it privately, I could visibly see how hard it was for him to do it. I thought "wow, this dude really needs this to work". I thanked him for pointing it out and assured him I wanted to be good at my job and appreciated him for giving me critique on how to do it. I felt great respect for him from that point on. He also critiqued me on the things I did well too, which is just as necessary in my opinion.

Basically I want to learn from feedback. Often I get anxious when given feedback but after time I have realized that it is really the only way to improve. In the past after listening to criticism towards me I did not take the criticism on board. I would dispute the criticism but now I understand how important it is. Even if I did not agree with the criticism it is important to listen to it so that I can see what other peoples opinions are of me. But of course constructive criticism is really the only kind of criticism that matters there it is the time that I seek.