How do you handle feedback you disagree with?

I take it seriously, especially when my first instinct is to dismiss it.

There's a pattern I've noticed in myself: when feedback threatens how I see my work, my impulse is to explain why I made the choice I made. That explanation is usually technically correct and emotionally defensive. I've learned to notice when I'm doing this, to pause, and to actually consider whether the feedback is pointing at something I don't want to see.

The clearest example is from my own self-examination. I used to believe that if I couldn't do something perfectly, it wasn't worth doing. That belief showed up in feedback from myself, my body getting weaker because I refused to go to the gym twice a week since it wasn't six days. The "feedback" was physical. I disagreed with the premise, I thought I needed the ideal program. But the feedback was right, and my disagreement was just a sophisticated excuse for doing nothing.

In code reviews and technical feedback, I follow the same principle. If someone says my architecture is wrong, I don't respond immediately. I sit with it. I trace their reasoning. If they're wrong, I explain why with evidence, not ego. If they're right, I change the code and thank them. The work is more important than my attachment to how I originally wrote it.