3 Ways to Effectively Challenge Your Inner Critic

Your mind can become your best friend, not enemy

For a long time, I’ve struggled with managing my inner critic—it’s the little voice in our heads.

Your ‘inner critical voice’ is a well-integrated pattern of destructive thoughts toward ourselves and others. It is the nagging “voices”, or thoughts, that make up this internalised dialogue are at the root of much of our self-destructive and maladaptive behaviour. Some of us have an internal dialogue, and it runs all the time. Studies show your internal dialogue is the result of certain brain mechanisms that cause you to “hear” yourself talk in your head without actually speaking and forming sounds.

The funny thing is, not everyone experiences it. There’s a lot that researchers have yet to uncover about why some people frequently “hear” an inner voice, and what it means.

But if you have it, there are some ways to challenge your internal dialogue.

I. Challenge Your Inner Critical Dialogue

You can take power over your inner voice.

When you become conscious of what it is telling you, you can stop it from running your life. The challenge is to identify and ‘flush out’ this internal covert operation. It’s hard to detect but it takes daily practise. To do this, be on the lookout for when you slip into a bad mood or become upset. Investigate: what caused the shift? What happened and, most importantly, what did you start telling yourself after the event.

The fact your mood shifted from feeling optimistic or relaxed to feeling down or irritable is probably a sign that you are interpreting the event through your inner voice.

When you identify what your critical inner voice is advising you, understand what it is trying to get you to do? After you pinpoint the actions that it is advocating, you can take control over your critical inner voice.

You can consciously decide to take action against its directives, thereby acting in your own interest.

II. Are You Working for Or Against Yourself

All of us are divided within ourselves.

On the one hand, we have self-regard; we have traits and behaviours that we like or feel comfortable with. We have natural tendencies to grow and develop and to pursue our personal and professional goals, as well as desires to be closed in our relationships and to search for meaning in life. These qualities all make up who we really are; they reflect an undefended part of our personality and a friendly, compassionate view of our self.

It’s important to understand that you are the thinker and the observer of your thoughts. You can control your thoughts, but you must pay attention to them so you can identify ‘who’ is running the show, are your thoughts helping or hindering you?

There are two ways to control your thoughts: interrupt and replace them. Eliminate them altogether.

III. Changing Destructive Inner Thoughts

We don’t need to be victims to our moods as they go back and forth between our positive and negative feelings about ourselves.

By identifying the critical inner voice and the role it plays in supporting our negative self-image, we can take action against it and significantly change our lives. We can reject attitudes that oppose our best interests and diminish our self-esteem. We can stop self-defeating and self-destructive behaviour. We cannot tolerate angry, cynical attitudes towards others that turn is against people.

Challenge your critical inner voice, observe the thoughts and don’t become attach to them. You will feel at peace with yourself and close to those you love.

You will enjoy a compassionate view of the world and an optimistic outlook on life.

The Takeaway

Your mind is a tool, and just like any other tools, it can be used for constructive purposes or destructive purposes.

Your mind can become your best friend, your biggest supporter, and someone you can count on to be there and encourage you. You can be in control of your thoughts. The choice is always yours. You only have control over three things in your life — the thoughts you think, the images you visualize, and the actions you take (your behaviour). How you use these three things determines everything you experience.

If you don’t like what you are producing and experiencing, you have to change your responses.

The choice is always yours.