Who is your harshest critic? A friend? A family member? Personally, I can answer that in a millisecond, my harshest critic is without doubt myself. I give myself such a hard time. I would never tolerate that criticism if it were from a friend. Well, they wouldn’t be a friend for long that’s for sure. Yet it is somehow acceptable to criticise ourselves MUCH more others could ever do. This criticism can eat away and erode our self-confidence and the sad thing we do it to ourselves.
Why do we let this happen and what can we do about it? How can we start to champion ourselves, just as we would champion our friends?
- ANALYSE YOUR PERSONAL CRITICISM
Think hard about what your inner voice is saying to you. Analysing your thoughts will hopefully make you realise that you are being too hard on yourself. Would you talk to your best friend like that? No? Well stop talking to yourself in such a negative way.
- BE PRODUCTIVE
After analysing your thoughts and feelings, is there anything you can objectively say is warranted? If so, devise an action plan to rectify or improve this area of your life or aspect of yourself.
- DRESS FOR SUCCESS
Clothes can make you feel more confident and they can improve your self-esteem almost instantly. So use them as your armour. Dressing the part will help you feel more positive about yourself. Now I don’t mean pop on a ball gown to take a trip round Tesco. No, but by being a little more put together, you feel better than if you rolled out of bed and turned up in your sweat pants.
- THINK HOW YOUR FRIENDS SEE YOU
Think of five of your friends. If they were asked you describe you in 3 words, which would they pick? Do you trust your friends? Yes? Then what they say about you reflects your characteristics as they see them. So start believing in yourself!
- TAKE CONTROL
By organising, even small things, you will feel more productive and in control.
- MAKE EYE CONTACT
People who are confident make good eye contact. If you make good eye contact, people will see you as confident and this will breed inside you, until you actually feel confident.
- REMIND YOURSELF OF YOUR STRENGTHS
Swamp the negative voices with lots of positive ones. Remind yourself of your success, or your strengths. When the negative voices kick in, realise what’s happening and attack them with an army of positive voices.
Are you your own worst critic? How do you silence the negativity?