When faced with a hurdle, what does your inner voice say? Does it make light of the situation and impart confidence or does it showcase every instance of under-achievement, disappointment and missed opportunity?
When you achieve something, does your inner voice congratulate you or make a list of the areas you were lacking and could have performed better?
For most people, our own inner voice is our worst critic. Our inner voice doesn’t waste opportunities to point out what our life is lacking, reminding us of our flaws and wrong decisions of the past.
If our inner critic assumes the worst outcome for an impending situation, it can cause our fears to build up. When we are working to accomplish a goal, if our inner voice ponders on the challenges and amplifies all hurdles, it can interfere with our motivation.
The presence of constant negative chatter leads to self inflicted pressure, overwhelm and abandonment of goals. To make matters worse, when our inner critic is not kept in check, we begin to doubt our abilities, feel defeated and seek control in everything.
When our self-esteem is strained, we find it challenging to keep our focus even on the most urgent matters. As a result, we become at risk of spiralling down a path of chronic worrying and anxiety, impacting our mental health adversely and making us feel discouraged, withdrawn and lonely.
Our mind and brain is our biggest asset and the main source of our emotional wellbeing. The more we nurture our brain, the better we perform and our self belief soars.
Nurturing an inner mentor and cultivating the habit of positive inner voice is vital to our outlook in life. Having an inner mentor helps us be optimistic of our future, be motivated to work harder and be more productive.
Our inner mentor is our biggest advocate and vital to muster optimism needed to handle any event in life. When we encounter stressors and challenges, having a strong inner mentor aids us in coping with the situation and be courageous.
When we talk positively to ourselves, we put into practice the tools to boost ourselves up through struggles and hope again. Positive self-talk makes it easier to reset goals and be motivated to engage in more physical activity, which in-turn helps our cardiovascular fitness and adds to our long-term fitness.
How to be your own inner mentor?
Start recognising triggers - The inner critic is a shielding mechanism to protect us from hurt, embarrassment and the ultimate fear, failure! When you feel fear and your internal voice is highlighting the worst, understand that this is a trigger. Recognising triggers is the first step and this itself shifts the hold our inner critic has on our mind.
Stop overthinking - Force yourself to stop overthinking. This is easier said than done. Begin with telling your inner critic to STOP and accept that it is ok to be scared.
Practice visualising - Embrace the power of visualising a happy version of you. Travel back to a place you visited or an event that brought you immense happiness. What did you appreciate about yourself on that instance?
Trust the positive inner voice even when you don’t - When we attempt to change our habits, many actions will seem forced. Listening to your positive inner voice may not come instinctively as we are hardwired to prefer the safety blanket of the negative inner voice. Practising trust in the positive inner voice even when you don’t fully believe is key to replacing the inner critic with the inner mentor.
Embrace creativity - Divert your mind to something more productive. A little craft project can be the perfect solution to silencing the inner critic. The time you spend creating something will make you feel proud of yourself and the completed project will double up as a reminder of your skill and talent. Read more about the importance of creativity here.
Be Patient - Changing habits won’t happen overnight. Be kind to yourself and enjoy the little steps in the process!
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