Inner Critic

Hiiiiaaattt

The inner critic is the authority inside our minds that is always telling us what's wrong with us. It criticizes who we are and how we look. If we've just done something, it tells us we did it wrong or not well enough. If we haven't done anything, it tells us we should have.

WE ALL HAVE THIS VOICE. For some it's so subtle and quiet that
we're hardly conscious of its biting words, yet they register nonetheless. We can never please the inner critic, no matter how hard we try. Unfortunately, we tend to keep trying even though we always get labeled a failure. And trying to please it just makes it stronger.

Where does this awful voice come from? It begins to develop when
we are very young. Believe it or not, it arises to protect us from being shamed or hurt by what it sees as dangers in the world around us. anting us to succeed in life, it continually nags at us to do and be better. It mimics the voices of our parents or authority figures. And its strategy is to CRITICIZE OUR BEHAVIOR BEFORE ANYONE ELSE DOES!

Though its intentions are honorable, the inner critic can do us
SERIOUS DAMAGE. Its constant harping undermines our self-esteem.
It makes us self-conscious, ashamed and afraid to act and take risks. It can bring on depression. And the irony is that if we believe what it tells us, its worst fear will be realized - we'll never achieve the success it wants for us.

TO DEFUSE THE INNER CRITIC, we need to learn to recognize when
the critic is speaking. We need to know that this voice does not
necessarily speak for who we really are. This is an old pattern that may no longer be serving us. We want to open to the possibility that the words are not likely true. We can ask ourselves, "Are these words helpful?"

WITH INCREASED ATTENTION AND AWARENESS, we can separate ourselves from the voice of the critic, and begin to detach from the
criticism. We can stop buying into what it says. We can make our own evaluations. And chances are, we'll realize we're doing just fine.