Sometimes your loudest critic is the one inside you. It can take a bit of work, but it’s doable.
Let GenuLines help you get started on the project.
Learning To Say No To Your Inner Critic
Being a bit critical of yourself can provide you with the reality check you sometimes need. It can help you make important changes in your life.
But constant self-criticism can lead to stalled progress. And the inability to do what is necessary for your happiness.
So learning how to silence or ignore your inner critic is an essential life skill. Here are some GenuLines strategies that will help you say no to your inner critic.
What is an inner critic?
It’s a voice inside that criticizes your choices, actions, and often your appearance. It’s born out of fear, sadness, and low self-worth.
It’s the thought pattern that tells you, “This isn’t good enough,” or “If only this were different.”
Naming your critic
This can help you recognize it when it is rearing its ugly head. And it can help you put it into perspective.
You might call it The Perfectionist, The Voice, or even The Gremlin. Giving it a less-than-dignified name keeps its power over you low.
Putting your mistakes into perspective can often help tone down your inner critic. With the right perspective, you can quiet that voice in little time.
After a misstep or blunder, be sure to question if anyone else even noticed or cared. As it turns out, we each are not, in fact, the center of the universe, and most people don’t even register others’ errors.
Before feeling that you embarrassed yourself in front of the whole office, think. Was anyone paying attention in the first place?
What would “they” think?
Consider how another person would respond to the way you talk to yourself. What would your spouse or best friend say about your mistake?
What would they say about how you’re talking about yourself or about your mistake? An alternative to this is, if you wouldn’t say it to someone you love, why are you saying it to yourself?
Be kinder to yourself, and soon the inner critic will have no voice.
Have a plan
Develop some pat responses to your inner critic and practice them. The minute you hear that voice beginning to criticize, respond with “So what?” or “Who cares?”
Another favorite is “Big deal!” Take away the critic’s power to influence how you feel and what you do by minimizing your responses and move on.
Your inner critic creates feelings of shame in you because you keep your mistakes secret. When you have made a mistake, admit it so you can move on.
Speak up
Tell someone else what happened or apologize if your mistake harmed others. Then, your inner critic has nothing to complain about,.
You’ll feel better for voicing your feelings instead of keeping them bottled up.
Learn to accept yourself as you are and silence the voice that’s always telling you what’s bad and wrong. This means admitting you’re not perfect.
Hold yourself to realistic rather than perfectionist standards. Find happiness and peace with the chaos that is life.
Mistakes teach you lessons. And you’re the person you are because of all the good and bad things that have happened to this point.
So silence that inner critic by remembering how valuable your life mistakes are.
JohnK 2=27-2023
Overheard: “How much easier it is to be critical than to be correct” ~Benjamin Disraeli
Article image from Mahdi Bafande on Unsplash
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