Your Write Life: A Little More Passion, A Little Less Critic
Posted on July 23, 2013 by Kindra Bernard, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
3 ways to decrease your inner critic, so you can make room for a life you love!
“Don’t worry about what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do that. Because what the world needs are people who have come alive.” -Howard Thurman
When we connect with our passion, it not only benefits us individually, it’s our calling that we offer the world around us. You have ideas. You have a purpose. You have a passion.
But chances are…you also have an inner critic.
You know the voice I’m talking about. For some it’s loud and domineering. For others, it’s more subtle and hard to detect. For all, it reminds us of why we can’t or shouldn’t do what we love.
If your calling or your passion were a spark trying to ignite, your inner critic would be the rain, the wind, the nervous camper nearby, trying to put out your flame before it has a chance to grow.
So how do you turn up your passion and connect with what makes you come alive while turning down the volume on your inner saboteur?
Here are 3 suggestions you might try. Although these might feel a little silly initially, by practicing any or all of them, you’ll be externalizing that self-limiting voice, and creating space to realize your inner critic is not who you are, but something you are experiencing in that moment.
1. Check into it’s purpose – Even if misguided or presently ill-informed, how might this voice be trying to protect or take care of you? Can you think back to a time this “guidance” might have been helpful? Reduce it’s power by stepping out of the conflict. Say, “Thanks, I appreciate your desire to help, but right now I’m all set.”
2. Personify it – Does your inner critic remind you of someone or something you know? Maybe an over-protective parent ? A dismissive teacher? A huge wave or dark, threatening cloud? Give it a name. Observe it’s personality. Describe it’s appearance. Get to know it as something or someone separate from you.
3. Put it aside – The next time you notice that limiting inner voice, create a ritual or visualization where you send it away on vacation, invite it to take a coffee break, throw a blanket over it, put it in a box, or on a shelf, or mute it. You can move it aside forcefully, jokingly, with compassion…whatever works best for you.
Give them a try, choose one that works for you, and move that much closer to doing what you love.
