Are you your own worst critic? Is your negative self talk sabotaging your success? Do you put yourself down for not achieving enough?
Here are 3 ways to silence your inner critic once and for all:
Own Up
Before you can change, stop or improve anything you do, first you need to be aware of and acknowledge that something needs to change. Without an awareness and acknowledgement, all appears to be well. We continue to think, feel and behave in the same ways, and achieve the same levels of performance.
The first step is to become aware of your self talk, to see whether it is serving or sabotaging you. Start to pay attention to what you say to yourself. Notice the words you use, and notice how you speak about yourself to others. Look for repeated words and phrases. Are they positive or negative? Do they empower or disempower you?
Then acknowledge any changes you need to make to your self talk. Ask yourself if you are really ready to let these go. Is the negative self talk serving any benefit at all? Does it keep you small so you stay safe? Does it keep you in your comfort zone? Are you now ready to step out of the comfort zone?
Please be honest with yourself. Awareness is the first step in your journey. The next step is your commitment to making the necessary changes. Then, it is time to permanently let go of the negative self talk.
Stop Feeding the Negativity
Once you permanently address the negative self talk and silence the inner critic, you then need to maintain the positive self talk. This is where you need to be aware of your environment – what you watch, listen to and read. Who do you surround yourself with – are they positive or negative?
Do you surround yourself with doomsayers who kick you when you are already down? Are people around you jealous of your achievements and successes, and then sabotage you? Or do they cheer you on when you need extra support to overcome hurdles and challenges?
For example, if you are part of a supportive culture at work, you will probably feel more confident in asking for help and support when you need it. In turn, this will assist you with being more successful. Alternatively, if there is a negative culture at work, you may avoid speaking with people or asking for help, which could have you feel isolated and unsupported. This could negatively impact on your confidence, performance and success.
Without a direction and goals to motivate us, we can be more easily distracted by other people’s negativity and demands. Therefore, it is also important to have a clear direction for your life, with specific goals. Make sure that your goals truly inspire and motivate you. With a compelling direction and goals, any negativity from others is less likely to affect you.
Get into Action
In addition to surrounding yourself with a positive environment to maintain positive self talk, you also need to get into action. Without action, new negative self talk and fear can creep in.
Rather than waiting to win the lottery, to receive a windfall, to have someone else do the work for you, or for a magic pill, create your own luck by taking action and making things happen. Avoid expecting things to change without doing anything towards changing them. Enough of the right action will build momentum towards success. In turn, this will reinforce the positive self talk.
Permanently silencing your inner critic has many benefits:
- you will feel empowered
- you will achieve more
- you will have greater happiness and success; and
- you will inspire others as to how much more is possible.