Break the Self-Criticism Cycle
We are, all of us, critical creatures. Think about your last performance review, if you ever had one. What stands out? If you are like 99% of people, you won’t remember the areas where you were told you excelled. Instead, you will remember the criticism you received.
It isn’t only external forces that conspire to be critical. We are our own worst enemy. We tell ourselves that we are funny-looking, too fat, too tall, too dumb, too reckless, too undisciplined, and too poor. That’s just for starters. These little criticisms become the major plotlines of the stories we tell ourselves about who we are.
Little criticisms become the major plotlines of the stories we tell ourselves about who we are.
We can’t stop the criticism. But we can bring the fight to it.
Take a moment and remember a time when you felt sheer happiness. The time you got your PlayStation at Christmas. The time you asked a girl out for the first time. The time you got the promotion. The first time you held your child. The time you ate the most magnificent burrito. It doesn’t matter what it is. Find that memory and give yourselves 30 seconds with it. Close your eyes and replay it in your mind a few times. Let it…
