Sometimes we need a reminder to quiet that inner critic that feeds you lies about yourself. People with a strong inner critic tend to have one thing in common: However great their success, they don’t feel it’s genuine or enough.

So they may push themselves more, with diminishing returns, driven more by fear of failure or judgment rather than inspiration.

Negative thoughts are toxic to our soul. The inner critic also has the power to make us feel constantly anxious. It can leave us doubting, defeating and denying ourselves the opportunity to find happiness.

The private conversations we have with ourselves can be either a powerful stepping stone or a major obstacle to reaching our goals. It’s our choice if our words become seeds of growth or arrows that hurt ourselves.

Self-affirmation has also proven to be a helpful offset to self-criticism. Reminding ourselves that no one is perfect and then redirecting our focus towards our strengths and our gifts let’s us offer self compassion and kindness to ourselves.

Simple suggestions to let a softer voice speak to you:

❤ Bring awareness to your thoughts. Slow down long enough to realize what you are thinking or saying to yourself

❤ Speak yourself like you would a good friend. Ask yourself… “Would I say that to someone I cared for?”

❤ Replace overly critical thoughts with more accurate statements. Challenge your own critical thoughts to see how much truth is in them.

❤ Name your inner critic. Call it the judge, the sabotager, Debbie-Downer,  Darth Vader, the bully… whatever works for you. When you have negative thoughts you can then say “Sorry Debbie, I’m not listening to you anymore”.

❤ Practice daily affirmations of kindness and acceptance for all you are versus judging yourself for all you are not.

❤ Put a rubber band or hair tie on your wrist. Each time you notice that your inner critic is taking over, snap the band and silently say “STOP.” This brings you to present and helps you have control over choosing your thoughts

What we say to ourselves will either build us up or tear us down.
Be gentle on yourself.
Be forgiving of yourself.
Be loving to yourself.
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