If you are anything like me you are probably your harshest critic. To be totally honest if my friend said half of the stuff I say to myself I would kick her to the curb! Lately though I have really been working hard to be my friend more than my foe. After all, its hard to be happy when someone is being mean to you all the time! Don’t be your own bully. Here are some tips that will help you silence your inner critic too. Don’t forget this takes work and time, it won’t happen overnight but keep at it- change takes time.
Listen to your thoughts- good and bad
So often I find we humans are constantly trying to turn off or ignore our negative thoughts. It seems counter-intuitive but this is the opposite of helpful. If you are always trying to push the thoughts away, they will only reappear ten times louder than before, kind of like that little kid in the supermarket who's mum is desperately trying to ignore. They only get louder and louder until they get the attention that they crave. Instead of trying to block them out, try observing them and letting them pass. Acknowledge they are there but don't buy into the negative stories. I find rolling my eyes and laughing about my crap helpful sometimes, it takes the power away from them and I can find some amusement with how ridiculous they can be sometimes!
Affirmations
When you realise you are caught up in a negative loop counteract it with something positive about yourself. You don't have to like it and it might feel uncomfortable but just do it anyway. One thing I really like to do every day when I ride is write down the things that went well. When I do this I focus on positive things which manifests confidence within myself that I can do it again. When I am not feeling it, or I am telling myself negative stories, I can dig deep into my positive affirmations to drown out my inner critic.
Identifying insecurities
This is not a bad move at all. If you can identify your insecurities you can also identify where your some of your negative thoughts are stemming from. When you have noticed what they are then you can take appropriate (and kind) steps to overcome them, or at least be at peace with them.
Use them for motivation
I find that sometimes my procrastination (which is usually stemming from anxiety over laziness) feeds my negative stories. Things like if I put something off until I am rushing then I can use that to beat myself up over. Instead, I am now more aware of the negative loop so I choose to take action and do what I need to do and not give myself an excuse to bully myself. Use your negative stories to motivate you into good work.