Are you your own worst critic? Do you believe this to be true for you? If you aren’t sure, take a day or two and pay attention to the voice inside your head and what it says about you. See if any of these sound familiar to you. “Why did you do that?” “Don’t look in the mirror, it’s disgusting”. “Idiot, why didn’t you speak up?” That is your inner critic.
Chances are you’ve been saying these things to yourself for so long you may not even pay attention to the voice anymore. This means the inner critic, is making you feel bad or guilty yet again, that you indeed are not special, or beautiful, or talented, or smart, or whatever you feel you may be lacking
You don’t have to believe everything that your inner critic, says even if it comes from your own mind. Chances are it started out somewhere else. Perhaps you had a dream of becoming a world-class athlete, but those around you told you it wasn’t possible; you were too clumsy, undisciplined, tall, short, or whatever they thought you were lacking to be successful. And over time you started to believe it; these people know better than you do, after all.
But do they? Who could possibly know what you, in your heart of hearts, want to do with your life better than you? Right. Yet somewhere along the way, you may have let their opinions hijack your own dreams. The good news is it’s not too late to take back control of your own preferred life.
All it takes is a concerted effort to listen for the voice in your head, and when you hear the criticisms and put-downs, take a moment to stop, and do something different. It’s really only the breaking of a bad habit (talking negatively to yourself) and replacing it with a new, better habit (talking more positively to yourself).
Let’s apply this strategy to combat this inner critic. Here are a variety of options.
Strategies to combat inner critic
1 Start by listening to what you say to yourself, pay attention, and start catching the negative comments by saying “NO” whenever you hear them. The first step is finding the problem and acknowledging it. Write them down in a notebook throughout the day.
2 When you do hear one, take a moment to counter them with positive, encouraging statements. For instance, when you hear the voice tell you, “you might as well finish the ice cream, it’ll just be calling you the rest of the night”, you can say, “NO, I only need a taste to feel good. I can save the rest for another day.”
3 Write down the opposite statements. Every time you catch yourself saying something negative about yourself, stop and write it down. Then think of an opposite, better thought and say it out loud (or in your head if you’re in public). When you write the thoughts down, they are exposed, and you can see clearly how they are hindering your happiness and growth. You may keep a notebook filled with them and watch how they will change over time as you eliminate them.
4 You don’t have to be perfect. When you knock yourself down for being inferior, counter with, “I am doing the best I can, and learn to do this better every time.” Even Thomas Edison’s successful inventions only came after thousands of failed attempts.
5 Find examples of past successes. When you hear yourself say you are ‘always this’ or ‘never do that’, stop and think about, or write down times in the past where you were successful at this, or something similar. You already know how to be better, reawaken this belief and find the criticism shrink away.
6 Start with your strengths. If you are unsure about your strengths, ask a few people whom you trust and have your best interests at heart. Armed with what they tell you are your amazing qualities, you can move ahead knowing that your thoughts are wrong. After all, if your best friend, who cares about you, believes that you are a fantastic problem-solver, and get along with anyone, who are you to disagree? Own it, and quiet the dissenting voices with a reminder when you hear them.
These are just a few ways to replace the critics in your head with tried and true fans. Try them all, or pick one and focus on success, until you feel good about yourself. I highly recommend writing down your experience, whichever strategies you use, because when you can see the change happening, you will be encouraged to keep going. You will be just as awesome as you thought you were as a kid. Next, perhaps work on that habit of turning on the TV or you-tube, when you want to avoid doing something… Old habits are hard to break, but luckily not impossible.
Do you wish your life were different, but don’t know where to start? Are you stuck in a vicious cycle and unable to break free? Or do you need guidance and help with techniques and tools that you can utilise to breakfree of negative self-talk or overthinking.
If you said YES to any of those questions, you are in the right place get in touch today with R4 Healing Hypnotherapy.
Regards Camille