Work In Colour - Work. Think. Live. In Colour
Thursday 16th April 2009 | 2 comments
Do you have a little voice that sometimes pops up in your mind with criticisms or dire warnings such as "If you try that, you will fail", "Everyone will laugh" or "Don't be ridiculous"?
You could call this voice the inner critic, or the voice of doubt. We are all particularly open to inner critic attacks when starting something new, and you are almost guaranteed to hear the voice of the inner critic when undertaking creative projects. Anything that is risky, involves subjective judgements or is outside your current comfort zone is likely to arouse the curiosity of your critic.
If you don't learn how to turn the critic off, it can rule your life, keeping you very safe but also keeping you from learning and growing and trying something new, such as taking that promotion, pitching that idea to your boss or finding a new career.
How to handle the inner critic...
1. Study your critic's habits.
Start to notice patterns - are you most open to your inner critic when tired, hungry or stressed? Or when you are alone or lonely? Then deal with those situations as far as possible.
2. Deal firmly with the voice.
When you are aware of a voice of doubt, deal with it as you would a stranger offering advice. Thank it for giving you its opinion and politely ask it to leave. Point out that it is not in charge of you....
3. Turn your mind off, and your body on.
Physical work (cleaning out cupboards, washing windows, gardening) or movement (walking, gym, swimming, dance) can be very effective. Just watch out if you find you are spending all day at these tasks - you may have swapped your inner critic for your inner procrastinator...
4. Crowd it out with some positives.
Make a list of 5 things you are grateful for today, 5 skills you already possess and 5 things that are good about your life right now.
5. Put it in its place.
You can also dispute the correctness of its conclusions e.g. by pointing out the occasions when you did display creativity, or when your project did succeed...just avoid getting into a long point-by-point argument with it (this will only re-invest it with power over you).
6. Bribe it with some quality time.
If the voice comes at an inconvenient time like the middle of the night or during an important meeting, you can make an appointment with yourself to hear it out at a later (specific) time. You might say something like "Let's meet and chat about this at 10am tomorrow morning, for 15 minutes". In the meantime, visualise yourself putting the voice in a bucket and closing the lid. This technique may sound a bit mad, and is probably best not practiced within the hearing of others, but it is extremely effective, provided you actually keep the appointment and let the voice out of the bucket at that time.
7. Experiment with what works for you
The best solution may well be the one you come up with for yourself.
However you handle it, make it clear that the inner critic no longer dominate your decision making process - the voice is not who you are, it is just a hangover from the past that no longer serve you. It's time to take charge and deal with it, so you can move forward into a more creative and satisfying life.
This is great advice. Infnitely more constructive than trying to kill the critic with beer. Thanks very much! P. :)
Though beer (or in my case, wine) is not always a BAD thing :)