The power of the inner voice

I never used to pay attention to how I spoke to myself.

I’m talking about that inner voice playing on repeat most of the day.

It tells you about all the things you didn’t do or should’ve done better. It replays
past conversations and events. It is your inner critic. It is beating yourself up.

The issue is that your inner critic will make you love yourself less over time.

When we criticize ourselves, cortisol becomes elevated. We’re activating our body’s stress response daily.

We become more easily agitated. We lose our patience more quickly with others.

But why do we engage in negative self-talk?

From an evolutionary perspective, it made sense. Our ancestors' survival depended on remembering mistakes to avoid repeating them.

Today, our inner voice mostly talks negatively about trivial matters.

We have ~70,000 thoughts per day. 80% of those are negative or repetitive.

So how do you work to silence your inner critic?

The answer is self-compassion.

Start to note down things you love about yourself. Repeat them daily.

Research shows that those who practice self-compassion are happier, more successful, and even have a better immune system.

In what ways do you quiet your inner critic?