Praise vs. Criticism

It's not easy to have this philosophy of life: Do not seek praise. Seek criticism.

It's easy to get approval if we ask the right people and enough of them will give it. Or we ask those who are likely to tell us what we want to hear. It's also true that most people will prefer to say nice things than to criticize. On our part, we would hear what we want to hear and edit out those we do not like.
If we had done reasonably good work and have a proven track record of perseverance, we may take pride to want to hear something good about the work we had done. It may probably be good. But is it really great work?
To know the difference we need to learn not to seek approval, or praise for that matter. To improve, we need truthful, constructive criticism from others, especially people who really care about you. If you think they are wrong, you can still use it for personal reflection. Mostly, it will help you improve your efforts.
Praise or criticism, you decide.