How to Talk Back to Your Inner Critic how do we change that critical narrative
Lately, it seems like the world is delivering opportunities for us to move into unfamiliar spaces, and be a little braver, and reimagine… everything, daily.
And one thing I’ve noticed is that for most of us, our inner critic tends to be at its loudest when we’re in uncharted territory.
So what do you do with that little voice that pipes up to say: You might as well keep quiet. You don’t want to say the wrong thing.
Or: How dare you? Who do you think you are?
Or (my favourite-not-favourite): Ugh, you are the worst.
What do you do with that kind of negative self-talk?
Because the truth is, how you talk to yourself matters.
If you believe in that inner critic, you will have a seriously hard time showing up to be the brave self the world needs you to be right now.
So how do we change that critical narrative to make room for something truer??
Here’s what I’ve learned to do.
Notice without judgment.
Notice the critical voice without judging yourself for having it.
It’s not super shocking that we have patterns of negative self-talk!
We absorbed those negative ideas a long time ago, so our habit of speaking like that to ourselves is SUPER WELL ESTABLISHED.
It’s going to take a minute to turn that ship around.
Talkback.
Don’t let that negative narrative go unchallenged.
Just start by saying something like: Thank you for your opinion. Duly noted. That’s enough now.
Replace the narrative.
Replace the narrative with something you do believe, something more HELPFUL and something more HOPEFUL.
It’s easier to REPLACE a habit than just to quit one.
Notice ahead of time: what does your negative self-talk sound like? What’s it telling you most of the time?
What could you tell yourself INSTEAD??
Have that ready to go so the next time negative self-talk pops up, you are ready to replace it with something ELSE.
Here’s how I know you can do this…
Your inner critic is predictable. It tends to have the same thing to say, over and over again. It just sounds like judgment.
But YOU are creative. You can choose any response you want.
Talk back to the judgment, and replace it with the truth. That’s how you rewrite your inner narrative.
You’re not the worst. Your value doesn’t come from being perfect, your value comes from being YOU. You’ve got this.
