Even if they are an implied criticism, it never hurts to answer the questions asked. A feeling is evoked either way; whether it is curiosity (what's the answer?) or conscientiousness (they asked me a question, I should answer), anger (how dare they imply I am stupid or not trying hard enough?).

Looking at our feelings and what they tell us about ourselves is our job (I feel angry about this, where do I feel vulnerable? Oh, I see, this person implies I am too stupid or scared to just jump in and get to work; well, "I am scared, I'm working on that in therapy, doing the best I can and I am satisfied with my work" OR "I am scared, what can I do right now to work on jumping in instead of beating around the bush? Hmm. I'll make a list of what I am currently scared of and then pick one thing and list three things I could do today to help myself with that fear").

Looking at our feelings as they arise keeps us current. If we aren't sure how we feel, personalizing questions might help us. "Why do I beat around the bush?" "Why don't I jump in and get to work?" If nothing else, a feeling of defensiveness might jump out at us :-) or we might find ourselves intellectualizing/trying to avoid the personal nature of the question or, we might "agree" the questions are good questions but have the "I'm working on that in therapy, doing the best I can and I am satisfied with my work" response.