For me most people have an internal critic; many times we don’t recognize it. For me there is always a little voice in my head that always comforts me; it knows what to say whenever I feel uncertain. It doesn’t really need an invitation; it just appears whenever I am trying to do something new or making an important decision.
My internal critic's favorite phrase is "What if I fail?" This question may be so easy, but it carries a lot of weight: what if I fail? What if people mock at me? What if people laugh at me? What if I made the wrong decision? What if I am not good enough? What if my friends are doing better than me? A lot of what-ifs will be running through my mind and head.
In all this, what if my internal critic will not ask, "What if I succeed?" It speaks louder whenever I am stepping out of my comfort zone. Trying something new, taking a big decision, trying a new opportunity, and then the voice will be so active. It will remind me of the time that I have failed, every disappointment I have experienced, and so on.
Must times it makes small mistakes feel like a big mistake; for example, must times I will make a mistake while trying something new instead of me telling myself that it is okay to make a mistake. It is called a mistake so that we can learn from it. My internal critic will judge me. I will be hearing in my head, you know, you can’t do it. Why are you trying? It must be our internal time to have a way of turning our mistake into evidence.
If my internal critic can speak, it will be so serious; it will have a long note where it judges everything about me. One thing we should also know is our internal critic is not our enemy, or the internal critic has protected us in so many ways, inasmuch as it is trying to make us safe; it also prevents us from growing.
If I keep listening to those voices, I will never take chances. I could have discovered who I am. The honest truth is failure doesn’t mean giving up, and a mistake doesn't mean you can’t achieve your goal. All you just need is to keep trying.
I have gotten to understand that I don't need to silence my internal critic; rather, I have learned to respond to it. When I start hearing those voices of "What if I fail? I will boldly answer, and then I will keep trying and learn from it. My internal can’t control me. My aim is not to get rid of the voice completely; my aim is to make sure that my voice is louder.
This is my entry on the weekly prompt #ladiesofhive
Image is generated with ChatGPT.
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