Do you have a strong Inner Critic? A voice inside that criticizes you, perhaps even calls you names or tells you that you can't do something. "You tried that before, and it didn't work then. Remember? Why do you think it'll work now?" Or "Who do you think you are? There's no way you can do that." Or "You're not smart enough" or "not good enough" or whatever. The messages often are meant to keep us from doing or saying something our Inner Critic thinks we can't do or say.
Our Inner Critics develop when we're young, and they really are trying to protect us. However, when we get older, we can take care of ourselves and don't need all that protection. But our Inner Critic doesn't always know that—and keeps on working to keep us away from situations she or he thinks we can't handle.
My take on Inner Critics is that it's better to recognize what they're trying to do (even if done with negative rather than positive messages!) and to love them. Tell that voice "Thank you for trying to help me, but I've got this. You can take a lovely vacation to a warm place right now." We don't need to be violent and kill those voices. We simply reassure them that we'll be OK and they can take a chill pill!
Isn't it nice to know that, even if she sounds misguided, we have someone looking out for us?!
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