Have you had a day where that inner critic just won’t ease up? The one that says everything you’re doing is wrong . It tells you incessantly that whatever you are working on will never be up to snuff, and you know it. Or even better, how about the sky is absolutely, without a doubt, falling, and we are all going to die – TODAY.

That’s the day that I’m having. For no real reason in particular. And of course, in the midst of all this, my anxiety is rising at lightning speed.

It seems as though anxiety falling and sky rising would be a better scenario, but who am I to attempt that mind game with myself at this point?

It’s Not True

My inner critic couldn’t be happier telling me that I won’t get this this blog done, that the Mexican leftovers I had for lunch weren’t even close to healthy (even with the greens I added), that my house tragically hasn’t been cleaned in over 2 weeks, that the chlorine from the pool yesterday is eating away my flesh, that if I don’t get more work done today my career is ruined…

But you know what?

None of this is true! Not one shred!

“So why am I listening?” I ask myself. Why am I trusting this rambling voice? This” judger” of all judgers.

HABIT…plain and simple. Habit. Which seems silly right? And it is silly. The good news is that I have the power to change this habit, and so do you.

The judger can strike at any moment. 

 

 Break The Habit – Stop The Judger

The judger can strike at any moment. And habits can be hard to break. So when it happens, I like to have a bit of a plan to combat my inner critic.

The first step is recognizing that it’s happening so that I can just STOP. Stop my runaway brain and become present in my body. So I literally sit down, close my eyes and focus on my breath. This brings me into my body and out of my head.

Doing this quickly puts an end to the dance that is going on between myself and that sly and sassy inner critic.

Once I get myself into the present moment, I step away from the tasks that I was focused on, knowing that if I immediately went back, my inner critic would be right back at it as well. Instead, I ask myself what might help me start a new energy flow for the rest of my day.

Here’s How To Stop Your Inner Critic Right On The Spot

This is the process that I use to stop the inner critic and get back to where I need to be.

You can fill it in with whatever works for you.

• Ask yourself what activities will take me out of my runaway brain, away from the inner critic and into a different space.
• It could be anything that works for you. What’s most important is that it is NOT what you were currently hyper focused on and frustrated about.
• I also find that the less goal oriented the activity the better. The inner critic loves to tell you that you can’t meet a goal.
• Once you have the short list, decide what’s the easiest. Consider how much time you have or don’t have to spare.
• You might select one activity or multiple. Completely up to you.
• After you’ve reset yourself, come back to what you need to get done. Hopefully you’ve refreshed yourself, your outlook and squashed that inner critic voice for the day.

It’s amazing how simple taming that inner critic can be if we let it. 

 

 What I Did That Day

What were the activities that I used to tune out that inner critic?

Pretty simple…

• Took a shower. For some reason I always feel better when I’m clean. Like I’m starting my day fresh again. And the shower seems to calm my nervous system down. Bonus.
• Meditated for 15 minutes. Yes my thoughts were a jumbled mess when I started. And honestly they weren’t exactly zen when I was done. But I was definitely in a better state for it.
• Called a trusted friend for a reality check. When my inner critic and runaway brain team up it can be complete mayhem. Externally processing usually proves to be helpful for me, especially with someone who knows me and can help bring things back into focus with a reality check.
• Congratulated myself. Yep, I said good job for not staying caught up in the cycle. I could have easily wasted the day in my criticism and anxiety, but instead I found a number of ways to refresh and refocus. And yes, this did mean that I took time away from my tasks, but we both know that I would have wasted my time by doing that anyway.

By switching up the cycle on a bad habit that I can sometimes get caught in, I was able to get back to work, get focused and get stuff done.

It’s amazing how simple taming that inner critic can be if we let it.

Please bring mindfulness to others and share my message by clicking below on Facebook and LinkedIn.

I would love to see you more often. To have my blog instantly delivered to your email box sign up below. It’s just that easy!