How I use Journaling To Tame My Inner Critic
My inner critic and a feeling of imposter syndrome has dominated so many aspects of my life for many years. This started to change once I sought help for my struggles with depression and anxiety.
For example, my inner critic has:
- regularly woken me at night in a panic with the certainty that terrible things are about to happen: losing my job, never getting another job and more;
- constantly whispered in my ear that I’m not good enough, that I don’t know what I’m doing, or that I’m about to be found out as a fraud.
This led me to avoid new opportunities, new experiences and shying away from people; culminating in me withdrawing further into myself.
I’ve been experimenting with journaling by writing what’s on my mind each morning and letting that negative talk flow. This helps me to bring it to life and either dismiss it or look at it with a dose of realism and logic and to see more of the positives.
The more I’m doing this, the calmer and more in control I’m feeling, and finding that I’m noticing the negative self-talk in the moment more often and seeing it for what it is.
I share more of my experiences of how I tame my inner critic in this video: