We all have had a battles with the inner critic. It’s the voice in our head that reminds us that we are not good enough.
It keeps us in touch with every bad decision that we’ve ever made and convinces us that this is who we are and that we should never expect anything more for our lives.
It’s the voice that connects us to a dream, and then taunts us with anything that suggests that we will never ever achieve whatever it is that we desire within that dream.
The inner critic, those seemingly harmful, yet overbearing thoughts are often our biggest enemies in life because we cannot help but allow the voice of the inner critic to have some form of power over us.
But how do we take our power back? What must we do to silence that inner critic for good so that we can live a life of abundance and prosperity?
Here are a few things that can help you to do so.
Call it what it is. While it is tempting to believe that the inner critic is telling the truth, the truth is the inner critic is a liar. It wants you to see life pessimistically because it’s the inner critic‘s job to do that. When you call out that notion, you are taking away your inner critic’s power. In this first step, you simply recognize that what the inner critic is doing is trying to make his voice more powerful than the voice that’s inside you. You must recognize the inner critics voice and decipher it from what you know to be true.
Think about what you would say to a friend who was being bullied? First, let’s acknowledge the fact that you do know that the inner critic is a bully… correct?
Who else would work this hard with something that you are struggling with just to make you feel worse about it? That’s what a bully does; so, by acknowledging that the role of your inner critic is to bully you, you can remain one step ahead.
Now ask yourself, how would you address a friend who is being bullied?
What types of things would you advise him or her to do? Ignore the bully? Would you empower your friend through techniques disguised to take back the power from the bully?
What other things would you address if a friend told you that they were being bullied?
The answer to these thoughts are so important because it’s easier to think about how you would deal with other people as opposed to yourself. Thus, the next step would be to ask what would you give your friend to help you silence the inner critic’s voice that’s disrupting your peace.
What evidence do you have that is for or against the messages that the inner critic is saying to you? By this, I mean, look critically at the validity of the inner critic’s argument.
Is there any evidence that suggests that the inner critic might be right about the situation at this time?
Is there any evidence against the inner critics argument?
Even if that inner critic was right, what is the worst that could happen?
Furthermore, what is more likely to happen?
The truth is, the inner critic is more than likely, over stimulating our weaknesses and under stimulating our strength to keep us stuck. And the truth is, there’s historical benefits to doing this. We are innately designed to be hypervigilant to discomfort as that keeps us in protection mode. That’s why it’s called survival of the fittest. Those of us who are able to protect ourselves from harm, tend to live longer and then carry those genes on to the next generation so that they can live longer.
Therefore, it only makes sense that when we are alarmed to potential danger, we take a serious look in the direction of whatever provokes the dangerous stimuli. But as where recognizing a snake could be dangerous for survival, yielding to our desire to make a calculated decision to open a business means that we will never experience true financial freedom that comes with entrepreneurship because we’ve allowed our inner critic to win.
Adhering to fear-based logic for survival is wise. But being ruled by fear-based thoughts imposed by the inner critic for prosperity keeps you encapsulated and away from a life of abundance.
No matter how aware we are of the fact that a fear-based mindset is harmful, it can sometimes be hard to separate ourselves from living in fear. If you need help separating your self from the inner critic, help is available to you today.
Contact one of our therapists now.