It happens. You’re moving along in your day and all of a sudden a little voice inside questions your ability, worth or choices.
It’s frustrating enough to have distractions from the outside world with others making thoughtless comments or unconsciously projecting their own insecurities onto you. But when it’s your own internal dialogue rising up in an attempt to throw you off track, it can leave you feeling defeated and impact the momentum you gained toward accomplishing your goals.
Your inner critic may be trying to reason with you, offering up cautionary guidance in an effort to get you to explore the pros and cons of what you’re facing.
Or maybe your inner critic is operating from a space of fear, hoping you avoid that thing or direction at all costs because past experience or that loved one told you “that” was an awful experience or will bring you nothing but trouble.
Or maybe your inner critic is an unchecked thought life and you’ve been dealing with reckless, unproductive thinking for a while now.
No matter the source of this internal criticism, you have the power to change the dialogue and make your thoughts work in your favor.
Here’s how to silence your inner critic and align your thoughts with the life and future you truly desire:
1. Interrupt the thought
When your inner critic shows up all unannounced. Stop it at the door. Creating a word or phrase like, “hey, girl, we don’t have time for this!” Or “my faith is bigger than this!” Or “I’ve got this!” Or any other word or phrase necessary to close the door on the critic and keep your momentum going. Interrupting the thought helps to reshape your mind and your physical brain. This action doesn’t let negative or disruptive thoughts rest there and dig roots. It informs the situation and puts you in control of what’s taking place.
2. Take action
Doing something to make progress on your goals does two things. First, it indicates that the thought you had wasn’t the truth. Second, it accomplishes the thing, choice, decision you were in the process of making. Together, the realization that your thought wasn’t the truth and that you can successfully achieve your goals despite of your inner critic, you can begin to build confidence in your goals, the decisions you’re making to help you reach them and the actions you’re taking to achieve them.
3. Give yourself some grace
There’s no reason to beat yourself up about a messed up internal dialogue. In fact, that may make things worst. Instead recognize that the negative self-talk isn’t the truth about who you are or what you’re capable of and you don’t have to accept it as such. You can lovingly release your inner critic to move on knowing that you’re safe and more than enough.
You’re the gatekeeper of your inner critic and get to determine how much space you give it, so it’s important to follow through with these practices regularly. The more you silence your inner critic the better, faster and more disciplined you’ll become which greatly improve your thoughts, outlook and future.
Do you struggle to keep your inner critic in check? What steps are you willing to take to get your thoughts under control? Let me know in the comments below.
