Deep down, we are all excessively self-critical; even the seemingly most confident people have a well-developed inner critic.

The inner critic

…is the part of each of us that nags away and is never satisfied with our performance.

You can easily recognise its voice: it is the one that tells you off all the time; the one that keeps saying that you’re never good enough / clever enough / thin enough / educated enough to do or be anything of note in this world.

It is important to understand that the inner critic will never be content because its work is never over – its job is to keep on criticising, and so it always keeps us on the hook.

Exercise – Deal with your inner critic

• Accept that the inner critic will go on nagging at you
• Learn to recognise the voice of your inner critic. As soon as you start to feel low, listen to what you’re saying to yourself. Are these negative things really true, or is this the voice of your inner critic?
• Visualise your inner critic resting in a deckchair, drink in hand, feet up in some exotic location. In other words, send your inner critic on holiday, keep him / her happy, and he/she will stop telling you off.
• Work on your inner critic, and soon you won’t be continually bringing yourself down.  You are an incredible and multi-talented person.

“Love and value yourself, be your own best friend; this relationship will last forever.”