Suddenly, you hear a voice in your head trying to undermine you and devalue any plan or task you want to complete.
Just when you are about to do something new that could change your life or requires a certain effort, this voice comes out of nowhere to tell you that you don't have what it takes to make it.
This voice strips you of all the impulses that were burning within you, and if you don't overcome them, you will remain a prisoner of its negativity for the rest of your life. Also, you will never have the freedom to live your life to the fullest potential.
So, how can you overcome the disingenuous critic's voice in your head that denies your potential success?
5 practical steps that you can take
1. Establish your ability to achieve by completing tasks
You must first comprehend why that inner voice even exists before you go on trying to silence it and stop it from belittling and criticizing you. It wasn't made randomly, it's there to make sure you survive. Our ancestors lived long before the emergence of civilizations in a violent world, and everything they did had consequences. If a member of the tribe decided to do something out of the ordinary, it could cost him his life. As a result, our brain has adapted to remind us not to make any drastic changes or take risky actions.
However, nowadays there is no reason to fear for your life when you are about to make a radical change or something out of the ordinary. You must teach your brain that there is no reason to fear success, and this is by finishing the tasks pr goals you constantly set for yourself.
Every morning when you wake up, write 3 to 5 goals to be completed by the time you go to bed. Naturally, you don’t need to set major goals that can’t be completed within a day. For example, if you wanted to start an online business venture, your daily goals can be as follows:
- Choose a specialty for your blog.
- Read about money-making techniques.
- Come up with 5 topics to write about.
You will have to finish these tasks by the end of the day no matter what it takes. If not, your brain will be familiarized with the idea that you can’t complete even the simplest chores. Hence, don’t set unattainable daily goals, instead, make sure that they are certainly feasible.
2. Practice discipline in your life
This step is correlated to the previous one. Regardless of the goal you have set, make sure to accomplish it on time. For example, don't say that you want to lose 10 kg in the next 2 months, then stop after two weeks. As this will have a negative psychological impact on you that will make your brain fear the attempt of losing weight. And the next time you plan to do so, the critical voice will emerge stronger than ever to remind you of the time you failed to lose weight previously.
Discipline is the most important trait to have if you want to break free from the annoying voice of the critic. Furthermore, it means that you are willing to do whatever it takes to succeed in achieving the goal you have set for yourself whether you liked how to get there or not. For that reason, most self-development experts tell you to set feasible goals. Because if they were too hard and you didn't have the willpower to reach that goal, you will only empower the voice in your head by proving that you failed to do something.
Failure is important and teaches you major life lessons. However, you must make sure to achieve at least 80% of your goals in order to overcome the critical voice in your head.
3. Derive inspiration from those who managed to achieve their goals
This may not be the best way to silence the voice in your head. However, it definitely works. Seeing those who have managed to attain their goals will enable you to benefit from two things:
- You will have the motivation to work.
- You will be able to accomplish what they did.
Let’s assume that you are starting an online business, and you suddenly hear that inner critic telling you that you don’t have what it takes. You either resist this voice and prove to yourself that you can by starting your own blog, or by reading about others who succeeded to do so. This will motivate you and push you to achieve potential success.
4. Consider that poor planning is to blame for the failure
Let’s say that you failed to achieve your goal although you followed the 3 aforementioned steps. You can either quit and never try again ( proving to your inner critic right), or you can identify the reason for your failure and take action to fix the situation.
For instance, if you planned to lose 5 kg in a month. However, by the end of that month, you only lost 2 kg. This is definitely progress, but you look at it as a failure. Hence, you must determine the reason why you failed to lose those 3 extra kg, then set a new goal for yourself.
Don’t blame yourself for failing. Rather, blame poor planning and poor execution. If you keep blaming yourself, you will reinforce the inner critic. Subsequently, instead of saying "I don't have the capacity to achieve my goal", say "My plan is not the best and I need to reevaluate the situation". This will increase your motivation as opposed to the insulting voice you hear in your head.
5. Achieving success
It is not that simple. Success involves a lot of work and effort. It takes resolve to do challenging activities, from setting goals to creating detailed plans to get there.
You usually need four steps to succeed:
- Creating a practical and actionable plan.
- Studying the goal and learning a lot about it.
- Discipline.
- Achieving success if you do not make a mistake in any of the above-mentioned steps.
Success is the cure for getting rid of the voice of the inner critic. Furthermore, achieving daily goals is the first step to dealing with that voice and the second step will keep it away from you, while in the third step you allow you to get rid of this voice, and the fourth will prevent it from appearing again when you fail at something. Eventually, success will destroy it completely.
In conclusion
Don't let your thoughts imprison you. Instead, show it that you have what it takes to succeed, and you will silence the voice of the critic inside of you. Although it will take time, it will be worthwhile, and you will experience unprecedented freedom.
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