Now that you have identified and named your Inner Critic, you can start calling its bluff. That’s right, its negative chatter is nothing but bluff!
I know your Inner Critic may sound like it has your best interests at heart, preventing you from failing miserably or making a fool of yourself.
Take a closer look, though. Can you see how it is rooted in self-limiting beliefs? It is not there to protect you; all it is doing is holding you back.

In my case, the Overbearing Mom voice loves nothing more than talking about work. She can send me on a guilt trip like nobody’s business (“You got a lot done, dear, but are you sure you couldn’t have worked an extra hour?”) and excels at fear-mongering (“What if your company fails and you end up destitute?!??”).
Frankly, my Inner Critic has become so predictable these days that I mostly shrug and carry on with business as usual. It has lost most of its power over me.

Find the patterns that your Inner Critic follows. What are its favourite themes? What does it typically say? How does it make you feel?
Get to know it intimately – it can be quite insidious and manipulative, so the sooner you can spot it, the less damage it will be able to do.

Emmanuelle

Have you been paying attention to your Inner Critic?
What did you learn?
Did you find it hard to tune into your inner dialogue? Is there a lot of chatter going on?

If you are like most people, you may have been surprised at how harsh you are being with yourself: “Don’t be stupid”, “You don’t have what it takes”, “There’s no point in even trying”, “Stop feeling sorry for yourself and go do something useful”…
You probably would not be so critical when talking to your best friend or a close relative, would you? So how come you do it to yourself?

Listen closely to that negative inner voice… is that voice really yours? Could it belong to a parent, a teacher or an overly critical boss?
The point of this exercise is not to lay the blame on anyone. It is simply to help you distance yourself from the negative chatter and look at it more objectively.

Have fun with it: What does your Inner Critic look like? What does it sound like? What is its name? Turn it into a caricature! That will make it easier to shrug it off when it goes into overdrive.

Mine is the overbearing, overly critical Mom type. What is yours like?

Emmanuelle

See also: Dealing With Your Inner Critic Part II
and: Inner Chatter: When It Gets Too Much