Do you have a talented and relentless Inner Critic? Or perhaps a less loud but just as sneaky Self Saboteur? Or maybe it’s a less easy to pin point voice of what one might call an Inner Judge who is consistently in the background ever so slightly being critical of others and MOST cripplingly critical of YOU.
Here’s some wonderful news: You are not alone.
Every - Single - One- Of - Us has some form of this critical inner voice. (Phew, I’m not alone and neither are you.)
I’m in the midst of a training on Positive Intelligence and I am appreciating how its giving language to the work I do with coaching. I’m learning some really practical and effective tools and tricks for wrangling Inner Critics and Judges.
Here’s the thing, I’ve never met anyone in my coaching who doesn’t have some form of an Inner Critic show up. Particularly because the people I work with are amidst transition or working towards a change in life (be it internal or external) and the thing keeping them stuck we come to find is SO OFTEN a belief that needs to be retired, a very loud Inner Critic or the sneakiest Self Saboteur derailing them from what they’re working towards — which by the way is usually something incredibly meaningful personally or professionally that will have significant impact in their community and spheres of influence.
READ: The Critics and Saboteurs keep us from being the version of ourselves that the world most needs.
This is why I love the modality of coaching: We get to dig deep and shine a light on those Critics and Saboteurs (which in an of itself quiets them down a bit). We also get to know them, understand them and re-train them so they don’t keep you from doing your beautiful thing in the world.
There is something very powerful that happens when Inner Critics and Saboteurs get to be witnessed - there is something very human about letting them be seen and heard and it results in us being set free from them.
Positive Intelligence is baked in neuroscience and at it’s core helps to retrain our minds — literally re-wiring the neural pathways SO THAT our brain’s habit isn’t to instantly take us down the sabotage path (a specific part of our brain) but rather steer us toward the Sage part of our brain. The Sage part of our brain is the place where curiosity, love, creativity, empathy, gratitude, self-confidence live along with calm, clear-headed, laser-focused action —- the good stuff(!) that we can learn to access more habitually even amidst stress and big challenges. Essentially, our Sage brain is the place where our mind is truly our friend serving us and our purpose and helping us do what matters most instead of sabotaging us at every turn.
While there is much we can do beyond this simple action to work with our Inner Critics, one of the simplest ways to quiet inner critics is with SLEEP & REST. Per, Friedrich Nietzche: “When we are tired we attacked by ideas we conquered long ago.” Sometimes the best medicine to turn down the volume on a loud critic is simply to allow yourself to get some rest.
I’ll continue to share more tips and tricks for dealing with Inner Critics. That said, if yours screaming at your right now LET’S CHAT — coaching with me is really great for calming them down and getting you on your way to what you want and your highest contribution.
10 Questions To Ask When Your Inner Critic Is Out Of Control
A list of questions to help in those moments when your Inner Critic has taken over and won’t shut up. I deal with Inner Critics a lot in coaching and I’ve found that getting to know more about them is one of the best ways to quiet them down. Bonus! I’ve also included a few general bits info on where Inner Critics come from and how they operate.
