EXORCISE YOUR INNER CRITIC

TO QUIET THE INNER CRITIC TRY THESE EXERCISES…

1) The first step to exorcising your inner critic is to write down everything you can about this character or characters.

Include their name, where they came from and if there is a colour, place or animal associated with them. Feel free to draw, paint, collage or sculpt your inner critic too!

My inner critic is Gertrude. ‘Rude’ is in her name. She came from my kindergarten teacher. She lives in the swampy recesses of my mind, where there are caves and cobwebs and bad ideas that stick in the webs and the mud. They form slimy foreign plants that erode the landscape and take a lot of energy to survive. She is red faced and raging!

2) Next write down all the things your inner critic says, such as…

  • You can’t do it

  • Your drawing/painting skills are terrible

  • You’re not qualified

  • You will never be good enough

  • Etc etc

3) Draw your attention back to yourself and your champions.

Who has supported you? A friend, a parent, a teacher, partner, a child? Visualise them all gathered around you and look at them all. Bask in the warmth of those connections. Journal about your inner champion/s. Include their name, who or what they came from, and any other details about them.

My inner champion is a figure called Mary Carey - she has ‘care’ in her name. She is like my Nan, my favourite art teachers and me all rolled into one awesomely supportive character.

4) Now, write down a counter argument for each point in Step 2.

Work out what it is the critic is honing in on and then make an effort to do at least 10 minutes of that thing each day for 3 weeks.

For instance if you take ‘Your drawing/painting skills are terrible’ and then spend at least 10 minutes on it daily, you WILL inherently get better and the act of DOING will shut down the inner critic.

Make sure to create however feels right to you. Remember there is no right or wrong here. Just pencil or paint to paper.

You do not have to share it. You do not have to show anyone. There is no pressure other than to show up for yourself and remove your critic’s ammunition. Action speaks louder than the words of an inner critic. Allow yourself this space to experiment and grow.

They say new habits take 21 days to create, so 10 minutes a day for 3 weeks should build a new positive internal dialogue. And 210 minutes = 3.5 hours!