5 Things You Can Do Today to Silence Your Inner Critic
Are you your biggest critic? Does your inner self pack a massive punch to the face somedays?
If you are anything like me, or more like I was, that inner voice can be the biggest, baddest bully on the block. And that bully keeps you from doing it…from making progress…from getting out of the rut…from knowing your self-worth…from knowing that “You Can!”…and ultimately from becoming the best version of yourself.
That seems paradoxical, doesn’t it? In your quest to become the best version of yourself, its YOURSELF that is also holding you back. THAT is the very essence of RESISTANCE.
In this article, I share with you 5 practical tips that you can use today to silence your inner critic. These are 5 things I personally have used, and continue to use to beat the big bad wolf in my head.
Critical Self Talk and Resistance
Why are we our own biggest critic?
Certainly there is a lot of psychology to be drawn upon here. But my favorite account of this concept comes from Steven Pressfield. He takes the “why” and places the blame squarely at the feet of Resistance. The concept of Resistance has been extremely helpful for me. It just plain makes sense, whether you take it literally or as a metaphor.
In his blog, Mr Pressfield describes negative self talk like this:
“In my opinion, the bad voice isn’t even us. It fools us. Because we hear it in our heads, we mistake it for our own legitimate thought. But it’s not. That voice isn’t us. It’s Resistance.”
Resistance is a killer, and we have to be keenly aware of it at all times.
BUT…we must also be sure not to confuse a healthy self awareness with that big bad wolf of Resistance. Self awareness is immensely important in moving yourself forward. A healthy self awareness allows you to see both the positive and negative aspects of your current state. But Resistance is the force that bludgeons a healthy self awareness repeatedly about the face.
To silence your inner critic, you must be aware of Resistance and then take appropriate action to defeat it.
5 Tips to Silence Your Inner Critic
Here are the tips…5 of the them to be exact. These are 5 tips that I have applied in my own life, and am excited to share with you. You can start applying these practical Resistance-killing tips today to finally silence your inner critic.
1. Daily/Morning Gratitude and Affirmations
You have a morning routine, right? 😉
One of the best ways to push that self talk to the positive side of the field is to start your day off right. Specifically adding just a few minutes of focus time to intentionally be thankful and affirm yourself can do wonders for your mood.
When you start the day off in the right frame of mind, that inner critic has hard time revving up. If you’re looking for some guidance on how start the day off right, here’s my morning routine for success.
2. Remove “I Can’t” from Your Vocabulary
I once conducted an exercise whereby I counted the number of times I heard “I Can’t” in a single day. I was astounded at how many times it was. The number on that day was around 40.
Are you using this phrase? Do you even know you are doing it?
The phrase “I Can’t” is a powerful negative signal to your subconscious, and it’s one of your inner critics biggest tools. One simple (maybe not easy) thing you can do is be aware and stop saying it. Start with being aware of how many times you say it yourself. Then, find new ways to express that feeling.
3. Take a Break From Social Media
Social media is such a great tool. It’s brought families back together…old friends back together…it’s created whole new avenues for business. It’s possible your entire business is running on social media.
BUT…if you aren’t careful, your inner critic can use social media against you. Social media presents a facade…of course, you know that. Your intellectual self knows that, but your emotional self doesn’t always know that. Checking the feed can trigger emotions that fuel your inner critic. Comparititus may creep in, and it may silently start to weigh on you.
Sometimes just a bit of a break can be healthy. Much like a physical vacation, you just take a vacation from it.
Here’s a litmus test that you can apply to see if you might need a little break: Are you mainly a consumer or a producer on social media?
Production is the key here. If you find yourself scrolling through the feed more than creating content, maybe its time to take that break.
4. Get Around the Right People
Elevate your circle. If you keep the right company and seek out the advice and fellowship with the right people, you can keep that inner critic at bay.
Maybe getting around the right people could actually mean eliminating the wrong the people. The inner critic LOVES to pile on with the others in your circle who are the crabs. Banish the crabs.
Get around those who have done it, who encourage you, and who share the vision for you.
5. Celebrate the Small Wins
Always celebrate the small wins, the incremental accomplishments, and the little things that get done on your path. You likely have big goals, but those goals are accomplished incrementally over time.
Your inner critic loves to remind you how far away you are. It keeps telling you that you will never get there, and if you don’t ever take stock of how far you come, it may win.
What are the things you are doing today to move you closer to where you want to be? Put them on the task list, cross them off when complete, and celebrate them.
Remember that if you ONLY walked 1 mile today, that’s 1 mile farther than if you didn’t.
Conclusion
That big bad wolf in your head is a monster…and he’s likely your biggest critic. Somedays he’s gonna win. But the key to long term success, and to becoming the best version of yourself is to win most of the time. Winning most of the time requires winning the self talk battle, and silencing that inner critic.
Here are 5 things you can do today to silence your inner critic:
- Daily/Morning gratitude and affirmations
- Remove “I Can’t” from your vocabulary
- Take a break from social media
- Get around the right people
- Celebrate the small wins
