Hard On SelfDuring a personal development seminar I attended this week, it came to my attention from the sharing of fellow participants that many people are very hard on themselves. Most human beings live with the constant chatter of their own inner critic. These voices are loud, clear, and very real. I too have an inner critic, however, over the years of consistently connecting with my inner wisdom, I started to hear another voice, the voice of my Inner Champion! A gentle reassuring voice that often comes up when I begin to criticize myself about things. This allowed for some very interesting conversations in my head.

Here is an interesting example:

Critic: I’m going to record a meditation in 2 days in a professional studio and I still don’t have a script and don’t feel like writing one. Why am I so lazy?!
Champion: Play! Do something fun! Not script. In the moment. You can write down some pointers but this isn’t about a script. You need to capture an essence in your being and in your voice.
Critic: I feel scared, I will be ill prepared and I will look bad.
Champion: Trust your inner voice and don’t let fear get in the way.

I still have difficult decisions I need to make on a daily and weekly basis but I didn’t realize how awesome it is to have a “good” voice in my head that would chime in frequently to help me see a loving perspective. But when I see people talk about their doubts and the constant critic in their minds, I realized that things would be somewhat different for them if they could have a champion inside their minds to duke it out with the critic — creating awesome and insightful inner dialogue from one moment to the next.

Love YourselfI am beginning to see the value of connecting to my own inner champion. I can see how this have avoided many incidences of trying to beat myself up over something. I used to do beat myself up all the time. I was often troubled by many things, mulling over things I could have done better in each area of my life. I don’t think that my inner critic had gone away in any way, but its presence is much more bearable and even fun because I also get to hear what my inner champion has to say.

So the next time you notice that your inner critic is beating yourself up about something, ask yourself this question:

What does my inner champion have to say about that?”