People who praise everything you can seem extremely supportive. They hype your work, and build up your self-image. While this energy may make you feel more confident, and can help you gather the energy to nurture an initial idea, pure praise also doesn’t help you make your work better.

A statement that sounds like constructive criticism can be a taste of reality. You might not want to hear it, but you need to. Learning to receive critiques, and to give them, is a formal part of some disciplines like design and editing. The process can feel extremely painful, but it’ll be worth it.

You usually won’t get this from yes men or enablers. You get this from people who are honest, have good taste, and are discerning about your work. You get it from kind people, even if it doesn’t sound nice. They can give you insightful second opinions. They can give you a taste of reality, so you can prepare for it before you show your work to the world.

Keep these people close to you.