Hello Friends!
Greetings from Barcelona☀️. Many thanks for your feedback on the last edition of The Quest. A special shout out to the following people: Gillian in Kingston, Mamen and Viliana in Barcelona, Noelle in Sydney, Ez in Montreal, Deepa on Bainbridge, Allegra in Seattle, Connie in Toronto, Barry and Michaele in Bracebridge, and Lux in New Jersey 🙌.
If you are joining The Quest for the first time, welcome to our weekly exploration of creativity, facilitation, and learning. You can catch up on past editions here.
So, how can we do our best creative work with that nagging voice in our head that says, “no way, you can’t do that!” Simply put: we can’t.
Our Quest for this week? How to make peace with our inner critic.
In this edition 🔎
Strategies to silence self-doubt
Giving more airtime to the nurturing voice
Balancing self-acceptance with self-improvement
Let’s dive right in.
🤝How I Made Peace with My Inner Critic
A blog that I wrote on how I made peace with my inner critic. Being a perfectionist served me pretty well when I was at school. And then came real life. That perfectionist turned into an over-zealous self-critic who could spread self-doubt faster than fake news on the internet. I became terrified of being judged. It took me years to realize what was happening. And then I did this one thing that changed my relationship with my inner-critic forever. Read the article here.
🔇6 Ways Leaders Can Start Banishing Their Inner Critic
An article by Speaker, Author, and Creativity Evangelist Denise Jacobs. Jacobs is an inner critic expert. She even wrote a book about it called “Banish Your Inner Critic. Silence the Voice of Self-Doubt to Unleash Your Creativity and Do Your Best Work.”
The article sums up 6 techniques to silence the inner critic:
Monitor your thoughts: choose supportive ones over critical ones
Stop trying to fit yourself to someone else’s mold
Know that you are NOT an imposter (even if you feel like one)
Remember that perfection does not equal excellence (*Note to my Virgo self)
Trust your ideas
Be good to yourself
Read the whole article here.
💪How to Stand Up to Your Inner Critic
An article by psychologist, meditation teacher, and author Rick Hanson Ph.D. Hanson reminds us that the inner critic is not the only internal voice chattering away. We also have an inner nurturing voice. Some people call it an inner coach. Others call it an inner champion. Whatever it is, it usually doesn’t get as much air time as our inner critic.
He says that for many people,
“The inner critic is big and powerful, while the inner nurturer is small and ineffective, wearing down your mood, self-worth and resilience.”
He offers a bunch of ideas of how to reset this balance by restraining the critic and strengthening the nurturer. Read the full article here.
💡Taming Your Inner Critic: 7 Steps To Silencing The Negativity
An article by psychotherapist and mental strength author Amy Morin. She reminds us that our thoughts have a big influence not only on the way we feel but also on the way we behave.
And she doesn’t beat around the bush:
“Your inner dialogue will either fuel your success or prevent you from reaching your full potential.”
She also offers tips to silence the negativity.
I like the last one:
“Balance self-acceptance with self-improvement.”
We can accept our weaknesses. But it doesn’t mean we have to stay that way. We can acknowledge that we have flaws, and commit to working on the issues we want to address.
Just reading that makes me feel unstuck.
What are your strategies for silencing your inner critic? I’d love to hear them. Please leave a comment on this page or hit reply to this email.
Thanks for reading The Quest. I always love hearing your feedback and suggestions. Visit my website for ways we can work together here.
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Until next week!
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