Building Confidence and Releasing the Inner Critic

"Realize you have choices about what you do, or do not want to do. Choose to get out of your comfort zone and say "yes" to reach your peak potential." Loren Fogelman

How often have you thought about your professional goals and how things would be different? You believe you want to take the steps necessary to move forward and grow your practice. Over time, the momentum and the desire begins to change. You're not as focused. There is not as much effort in the process to grow your practice. Slowly, you have returned to "doing business as usual." The goals you had for your practice did not turn into a reality.

I have witnessed this process occur over and over again, with friends, clients and in my mastermind group. The desire and intention are strong. Positive change begins to happen. Then the familiar negative thoughts, the inner critic, appears. The inner critic expresses doubt, fear and criticism. When the inner critic takes center stage it is able to stop progress dead in its tracks.

Your inner critic will remind you that you do not deserve success, you need to have it be perfect and focusing on your goals will take time away from your other many responsibilities. More than likely there is more than one message you hear. The inner critic keeps you frozen in your fears and avoid taking the next step to grow your business.

When you do hear them, do you know whose voice is speaking to you? These messages of doubt, deserving and fear are not originally yours, although they might feel that way. Typically they were told to you by someone you knew, possibly someone you wanted approval from. Over time these messages became internalized; you took ownership of them.

The different negative messages you have from your inner critic when combined together form "the committee." You committee has the job of keeping you stagnant and avoiding taking risks. The purpose is to avoid being vulnerable, experiencing pain or stepping out of your comfort zone where you might fail.

Now that you are aware of your inner critic and the committee, you have a choice. You can choose to stay where you are because it is safe and predictable or you can choose to transform the inner critic in order to free yourself from the negative messages and self imposed limitations.

My goal is always to turn a negative into a positive. Consider the possibility that you are able to release the negative messages you have which prevent you from taking action. Those negative messages are based upon your experiences. Each experience influences your perception and beliefs.

Once you begin to transform the inner critic into a supportive voice, you will begin to clear your energy. This process will increase your vibration. You will be ready to take action and reach your goals.

Your inner critic will be resistant to change and give you many reasons not to take the necessary steps to release those familiar negative messages. The inner critic does not want to give up its power and control.

Now that you are aware of your inner critic you can make the choice for positive change. The choice for positive change is empowering. Listen to your intuition to guide you through this process. As you make the transformation and replace the negative self talk with a positive supportive voice, you will be raising your vibration. This heightened awareness and energy will attract more abundance into your life. Making positive change will help you to successfully reach your goals. Enjoy the opportunity you have created for yourself to make long, lasting positive change.

Assignment: Identify one negative message you tell yourself over and over again which has prevented you from taking the steps necessary to grow your practice. Choose the one which is most familiar to you. Do you know who told you that and where it came from? If not, try to remember when you began telling yourself that message.

Now consider how things would be different for you if that particular message from your inner critic did not exist. Having some type of support helps with making long, lasting change. Identify one person who would be a support for you. Many times family, partners and friends don't understand and are not the ideal support. For significant change, you might want to consider getting professional support to successfully reach your goals.