Dealing with your Inner Negative Critic

I can't remember the last time my mind didn't nag about my imperfections in front of the mirror. Voices whisper that I'm not good enough, cajoling me to believe that I don't have sufficient potential for achieving my goals. Wallowing. Ruminating.

 Am I the only one who does that? According to an online source, an alarming 85 percent of the world's population suffers from low self esteem.  

So here's the thing, self criticism can assist us sometimes, especially in making good decisions. But excessive negative self-criticism always backfires. We don't look cute when we are wallowing because we are not baby hippos.  Instead, respond to your inner critic by writing down a more down-to-earth and considerate assessment of yourself after embracing your flaws. Who in the history of earth didn't have flaws?  

Know your critical inner voice is not always true. Take a look at yourself more carefully, identify that your point of view and your visceral interpretation of yourself are different from each other. For example, you might be on a my-waist-is-too-big kick but in reality, you could have just the ideal body shape that was admired during some particular era in history. Who says everybody has to be ultra-thin or curvaceous in order to look attractive?

Take actions that represent who you want to be as a person, and what you want to aim to do in the future. Don't give up hope if your family wants you to be an engineer but you are bad at maths, don't question your potential; know every individual is different, and discover your true talents.  Attempt to make your parents understand the fact that not everyone's au fait with everything.

And seriously, don't bother about your looks. Who cares? Sure, you can hide the pimple marred face with concealer and make yourself presentable by wearing neat clothes and spraying some perfume, but also understand that your looks only represent your genes. It's your demeanor that represents who you are. The number of people who'll judge you based on your "face" and "body" is only about as big as the width of one of your body's microbes, so you might not want to care about that either.

Thus, stop saying "Yes mein Fuhrer" to your inner critic when it starts self-hating, and use 10 seconds of extreme courage to drive the little Nazis away. Stop worrying about things you can't change and start working for the things you can change. Godspeed.