How to Fire Your Inner Critic

Do you feel beset by problems of negativity? Is there a voice yammering in your ear about your shortcomings and insecurities? If so, you need to get rid of that presence and start the rest of your life. Stop the mental deadlock by shifting your perspective and making a struggle into a solution.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

1. Re-condition yourself. Breaking from paralytic habits means starting new. Fight self-deprecating impulses. Make sure you know that you are worth a second chance. Most situations can be improved with a little determination and a different vantage point. Stop old habits and start new, positive ones.
2. Make lists of achievements both large and small. Make every effort to meet goals and reward yourself when you do. Make the negative positive by attacking a problem from a fresh angle, and don't allow yourself to slip back into listening to the negative voice inside you. Talk above the fray, and act decisively.
3. Learn to take risks. A lot of the inner critic cycle is that an aversion to risk-taking can result in stagnation. Don't go wild with your chances, make calculated risks, but go out on a limb, outside of your comfort zone, and you'll most likely look back and say your risk was a good sound decision.
4. Surround yourself with good friends and positive people. Don't let those around you get you down; engineer your own social league or day-to-day interactions. If you are forced to spend time with negative co-workers or family members, minimize the impact by ignoring their diatribes completely: their negative outbursts are no more meaningful than traffic noise. Realize that they, not you, are stuck, and you have a free path in front of you.
5. Encourage your own creativity. Don't be averse to learning: self-education is one major key to change and improvement. Learn about other individuals who have broken out of their cages and take a page from someone else's playbook if necessary.

Tips & Warnings

• Work toward being a self-sustaining person. Much of the problem of an inner critic (or an outer one) is that either you or your benefactor may use the dependency as a weapon against you. The more self-sustaining you become, the more power you have to talk back to a negative person.