Self-Compassion: Silencing Your Inner Critical VoiceBy Anthony K
The private conversations we have with ourselves have significant impacts on our lives. They can be a vital stepping stone or can be a crucial hindrance to attaining our goals. If you have inner monologues that speak things such as “No one talks to me” OR “I always embarrass myself” as you enter a cocktail party, then most likely, throughout the party, you will not be sociable and relaxed. The pessimistic predictions can quickly become self-fulfilling prophecies. Some ways you can silence your inner critical voice include:
Identify the critical voice
The easiest way to detect the voice is by becoming aware of your inner judgment and commentary of the outside environment. For example, if in the morning, while at the bus stop waiting for the bus to head to work, you find yourself constantly thinking: “I hate public transport, the bus is late again today.” Then this is the inner critical voice in you. After identifying the demeaning voice, you can be aware of the judgments and comments regarding yourself. Mainly focus on the thoughts that result in an adverse change of mood and feeling bad. Think of the situation that causes them to happen. Think of situations triggering them.
Change your reaction to the critical voice
Avoid behaviors that trigger the critical voice. You can try out challenging the voice by engaging in opposite behavior. For example, if you are at a party and the voice comments that you shouldn’t speak to a particular person as they wouldn’t want to talk to an individual like you, instead of following your voice, go ahead and take a step further and introduce yourself to the person.
Find professional help
A psychologist, counselor, or psychotherapist that’s trained to help you understand your inner world and change your behavior and thought patterns would help. By getting into a course of therapy, you can have a safe space in which you discover your inner critical voice’s origins, which is key to overcoming it.
By embracing these steps, you will be able to silence your inner critical voice.