How do you stop the inner critic? How do you stop the negative self talk?
We all have this voice inside that basically determines our situation or outcome. Sometimes it’s negative and sometimes it can be positive.
This past weekend I had an event and the inner critic REALLY showed it’s ugly head! The location was about an hour away and I left my house 1.5 hours ahead of time to make sure I arrived in plenty of time to set up for the painting party.
My GPS directed me to a different location and then I began to panic! I spent the next 2 hours going up and down the interstate trying to find the location. I was frazzled, embarrassed, upset, scared that the customer was going to be furious (which they should be) and totally defeated.
I felt totally lost! Emotionally and physically!
After the customer had to come get me from the gas station because I was SO LOST I did the party and headed home. The party was great! The kids were so much fun and we had a great time, but I just couldn’t shake the feeling I was having.
Why was I so mad at myself? Why was I so disappointed in myself? That night and the day after I had 2 more parties all which went well and no hiccups.
As I reflected over this past weekend I had to take a moment and let myself off the hook. I’m human…. I will make mistakes and the inner critic can be a mean force if you let it!
Give yourself a break sometimes. We have to remember that everyone’s world revolves around them. Sometimes that huge hiccup to you, was just a small moment in the other person’s life.
So, I let myself understand that I’m going to make mistakes sometimes and it’s okay.
I get this a lot when I’m creating a new artwork. It used to be really bad, but as I practice art every day I learn how to tell that voice to shut it’s trap!
So, how do you stop the inner critic? Here’s a few things that I did this weekend to help me move past a situation that was bringing me down.
Recognize your emotion or what you are thinking about that is causing you stress.
Keep moving forward! The inner critic likes to stop something great from happening so understand that it’s a sign that good is on the horizon!
Be understanding to yourself like you would to a friend! I think sometimes we are WAY harder on ourselves than we are on our friends. So, when this happens think of how you would show compassion to a friend and then try to treat yourself with that same compassion.