Understanding Your Inner Critic
Imagine a cranky old person living in the attic of your brain. They’re loud, judgy, and endlessly warning you about everything that might go wrong. This nagging voice isn’t just your imagination—it’s your brain’s wiring at work.
The psychological term for this is the inner critic: a persistent internal narrator that highlights your perceived flaws, mistakes, and shortcomings. It’s the voice of doubt, fear, and anxiety.
It comes from our evolutionary past, where scanning for danger quite literally meant the difference between life and death. Our brains are wired to prioritize safety and predictability. That’s why, even today, your brain is scanning constantly for signs of “danger” — not just physical threats, but emotional ones too, like failure, rejection, or judgment.
In today’s world, this instinct often exaggerates risks and doubts, holding us back more than helping us.
The average person has about 70,000 thoughts each day. When you really pay attention, you’ll notice not all of them are helpful—or even true. Many of those thoughts contradict one another. Could you imagine the chaos if we believed every single one of them?
The truth is: thoughts are not facts, and it’s perfectly okay to question the voice inside your head and ask:
“Am I believing [insert belief here] just because this voice is saying it?”
“Do I know this to be absolutely true?”
“If not, what else could be true?”
Our inner critics saying these things in our minds are trying to keep us evolutionarily safe (amplifying our doubts and fears) and that’s okay. We can thank them for playing the role that they play, and then say, “Thanks, but no thanks,” as we keep moving in the direction we want to go.
If you want to give it a go, consider your response to this question:
What’s one thought you would like to question or flip?
How might shifting that thought help you move forward?
If you’d like, reply with a thought you plan to question/flip. Think of it as a small way to set your intention and put it out there—I’d love to hear yours.
