Today’s episode is all about criticism, so try to be gentle in the comments if you don’t like it, OK?

There’s a lot to criticize, whether for good or ill, in this episode. We work on breaking the fourth wall of the internet in the early going, while Zack lists his personal pain list as he dwells on the perils of aging.

It doesn’t get more comfortable as we jump into the topic at hand, either. Jason admits he doesn’t take criticism well, then confuses Oscar Martinez with Oscar the Grouch (a common mistake, surely). We debate the efficacy of our criticism metaphors involving sandwiches and bookends, try to figure out why clients always pick the worst of any given list of options and even make the first fart joke of the podcast in a historic milestone for Hustle Machine.

Overall, though, you’ll have to learn to take criticism, one way or another. If you avoid criticism, you do yourself a disservice.

Certainly you can disagree with a client, but you’ll have to accept their choices on some matters, even if the mentor or peer group you find might agree with your assessment over them. Only one of them is paying you, after all.

No matter how precious your “brain baby,” as Jason coined the term, sometimes you’ll just have to accept the client finds it ugly and wants a different option. The important thing is not to wallow in that criticism but to move on and find a way to meet the client’s demands.

If nothing else, just know that a client’s criticism of your most precious brain baby is probably less brutal than Zack’s masseuse pointing out his back fat, so there’s that, at least.

Give today’s show a listen, give it a like and maybe even leave some feedback, as long as it’s not too critical. We’ve learned to take it, of course, even Jason. But, still, don’t be too rough with us, alright? There’s only so much dark and hopeless brooding we can do on each critical comment, so don’t go too overboard or you’ll leave us unable to move forward for all the wallowing.

Until next time, Hustle on!