I'm pretty sure you guys know what an inner critic is and have experienced it in your greatest of endeavors in life. It's when the criticism on your work comes not from the outside world but from within yourself, which is oftentimes harder to deal with.

It's that voice inside of you that highlights your flaws and weaknesses and tells you that you are not good enough and compares you with other people who have achieved so much more than you have.

For me, even though it's not as bad now as it used to be in my early teenage because I've sort of taught myself to not believe in my own unreasonable criticism, I still do have my days when I just can't stop putting myself down and shaming myself for no apparent reason.

This is why this topic is something that holds personal value to me and I feel like I need to discuss some things about it with you guys to give you an idea on when and when not to listen to your own inner critic and how it affects your mental health.

Indecisiveness

Even if you try to look at it from an optimist's perspective and believe that your inner critic helps you improve by pointing out where you could do better, it still doesn't make sense.

Why? Because at one side, if you listen to your inner critic, you are always trying to get better but on the other side, this forces you to never truly accept yourself, which is extremely dangerous especially for people who are involved in creative professions.

For example, when I first started out on Steemit, I always tried to write the most perfect articles and I spent hours trying to frame my sentences in a way that would be appreciated and enjoyed by everyone.

But because of that, most of what I wrote back then, seems pretty cliche now. There was no realness or personal touch in my blog. That's why, as time went on, I started to be more "me" and started caring less if everyone liked my content or not.

I tried being more honest and real with my work, and fortunately, it worked out. I received some of the most beautiful and supportive comments I've ever received and people even appreciated me for being courageous enough to accept my flaws.

How I Control My Inner Critic

I'm not saying you should completely ignore your inner critic because after all, it gives you room for improvement even if it can be a little harsh at times, but that still doesn't mean that you should let it take over and never appreciate your achievement either.

To solve this dilemma, what I personally do and also highly recommend doing, is to ask questions to your inner critic on why it thinks what it thinks of you and your work, and to try to look at things from a rational perspective rather than an emotional one.

Asking the right questions to your inner critic makes it weaker because then the inner critic has to be reasonable or else it would seem less and less believable, because as we know, self-doubt is the fuel that your inner critic works on.

If you look at it from an optimist's perspective, then your inner critic is your friend, which is not always true. Look at it from a pessimist's perspective, your inner critic is your enemy, still not true. BUT, look at it from a realist's perspective, you'll notice that your inner critic is more like an imperfect teacher.

What do I mean by that, you ask? Well, your inner critic does improve you in a way, but the method that it uses is flawed. It focuses only on the result, and not on the process of obtaining that result. That's why, it's more like an imperfect teacher rather than a friend or an enemy.

How you choose to handle your inner critic is completely up to you. This is just my way of dealing with it. If what my inner critic says is actually quite reasonable, then I listen to it. But if all it wants to do is shame me for being myself, then I shut it up and close my ears.

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