6 Ways To Silence Your Inner Critic
Hey dude… It’s time you cultivated an attitude!
Sure, life can be hard sometimes. The last thing you need is your Inner Critic taking the wheel, getting on your case about every last little thing you’re trying to do.
Why do you listen to someone who doesn’t have your best interest at heart?
No, it’s time to challenge your Inner Critic and silence their voice once and for all!
But how? Here are some tried and true strategies...
1. Silence Your Inner Critic - Start Noticing
Inner Critics like to whisper, but they never speak out loud. The last thing they want is to be noticed in their sordid schemes.
By paying attention to what’s going on in your head, you draw their lies out into the light where they cannot stand.
2. Give it a Nickname
Whenever the Inner Critic speaks up, give it a silly name.
Think to yourself things like “Hey, it’s Fartypants, back again to cause trouble.”
By making fun of this voice, it’s a whole lot harder to take seriously.
3. What about a Voice?
Do you hear some pretty negative things? Try saying them out loud.
By giving voice to these thoughts (preferably not in front of others!), you’ll hear just how ridiculous they sound.
4. Silence Your Inner Critic - Take a Negativity Break
Tell Fartypants s/he can only come out to play at a particular time each day. During that time, take a break and tell him/her to do their worst.
Be sure to set a timer for the space allotted, so you don’t give more time to the negativity than necessary.
Sit back and let it speak its piece. The funny thing? Most of the time, you won’t even remember what it was that Fartypants had to say by the time your negativity break rolls around.
Even if you do, when the timer goes off, remind yourself you’re done and walk away.
5. Question Everything
Is there any truth to what Fartypants is saying? Examine the statements.
Feel free to argue back. Point out the flaws in the reasoning and back it up with examples of times when you’ve proven those things aren’t true.
6. Silence Your Inner Critic: Replace the Words
Finally, drop the negative words entirely and rewrite the script to turn each negative into a positive.
For example, saying, “I’m terrible at writing reports” can become “I did a great job on the last report I wrote. I bet this one will be fine too.”
So remember...
Silencing your Inner Critic is going to take time and energy. This kind of voice doesn’t just shut up because you told them to go away once.
No, you’re going to have to do the work, using these strategies until you’re finally free of the nasty little voice.
Once you’ve got it, though? Your world will change enormously in some pretty great ways.
After all, without your critic to hold you back, you’re primed for success in a huge way.
Some Ancient Wisdom
An old Cherokee told his grandson:
“My son, there is a battle between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, inferiority, lies, and ego.
The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy, and truth.”
The boy thought about it, and asked, “Grandfather, which wolf wins?”
The old man quietly replied, “The one you feed.”
