Remember a recent time when you felt bad about yourself – when you felt embarrassed, discouraged, or just not good enough?
What were you telling yourself in that situation? Could those old negative tapes in your head be at it again? Probably! How do we get out of the bad habit of criticizing ourselves, and making ourselves feel miserable; why is this so important?
It’s crucial to understand that our subconscious mind hears and acts on everything we say!
The more we beat ourselves up with negative self-talk, the less confident we are, and the less joy, vitality, and peace we feel. How do we keep our thoughts positive so we can feel better about ourselves and enjoy more pleasant experiences in life? Try talking to yourself the way you would talk to a child – with kindness, compassion, understanding, and encouragement. After all, your inner critic is just a shadow of your inner child, who remembers and believes the negative thoughts, feelings, and judgments from long ago. Your mind can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Are you letting your mean inner judge sabotage your happiness?
If you find you’re judging yourself, the inner critic is alive and well. Critical self-talk is destructive and after a while, your subconscious mind has no choice, but to believe all of the negativity you feed it! You’ll eventually embody it and live from a diminished reality. Always telling yourself you could have done better, your ideas or projects aren’t good enough, you don’t measure up, and everyone is better, smarter, and more deserving than you crush your self-confidence and leads to low self-esteem.
Allowing your inner critic to be in control is like allowing a cruel judge to rule your life.
The judge is a sneaky thief, robbing you of your joy, abundance, worth, goodness, creativity, talent, and opportunity for serenity. The judge causes chaos in our minds, spirit, and body. It makes us feel less than we are, squashes our inspiration and motivation, and makes us believe the old, negative self-talk running rampant in our heads.
When we doubt ourselves, we are listening to the critical judge, the injured child in our head, who is simply trying to keep us playing it, safe, small, and silent. Resist this! These are your limiting beliefs. They keep you from venturing out to try new experiences or meet new people. There is a better way. Give that inner critic, the boot!
We love and respect those who resist judging us.
We feel comfortable and accepted and enjoy being around them. What would your experience be like if you stopped judging yourself? What if you could give yourself the benefit of the doubt more often? What if you showed yourself the same compassion you extend to your best friend?
It’s possible to stop sabotaging yourself and get into your sage brain. Want to learn how?
It’s possible to stop sabotaging yourself and get into your sage brain. Want to learn how? Join my next group for a fascinating six-week journey to mental fitness and kick your saboteurs out of the driver’s seat of your life! It’s time to quiet your inner critic. Stand up to that negative bully and give it the boot. Once you do, I promise you’ll begin to experience more joy, confidence, peace, and playfulness in life. The kinder you are to yourself, the happier you’ll be, and the less often the inner critic will seize control!
About the Author
Linda Mitchell, a Professional Transformational Coach, is the founder of LIVING INSPIRED Coaching. She has been coaching and practicing in the healing arts for over 20 years, operating from a deep desire to empower people to move through life’s many challenges and transitions with ease and grace. Her unique “Reinvention Program” helps people reclaim balance, and better health and gain clarity on their next steps in order to define, create and truly live the life they desire. www.LivingInspiredCoaching.com
