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In this episode of the Overgivers Anonymous, I’m excited to bring you Harriet Waley-Cohen as our guest. Harriet and I had met in a mastermind group several years ago. Whenever we connect I find her conversations to be so inspiring! Today we are going to be talking about your inner critic. Everyone has a different concept of what this actually is. Some people think it’s just that inner voice, they think it’s themselves and/or they think it’s the truth. There are others that are able to externalize the inner critic and see that it doesn’t have to be part of you. Or it can be something else that is trying to weave you under its evil spell. Sometimes it’s hard to differentiate.
Highlights:
- 95% of the population of humans have an inner voice. Therefore it must be useful for our survival and evolution.
- The inner voice is helpful because it helps us time travel by being able to forecast into the future and spot what could go wrong and adapt our behaviour so that stuff doesn’t go wrong. It helps us make meaning out of things that have happened (good or bad) so we can make sense of our world.
- The problem is when our inner voice can become a dictator, a cruel, horrible and nasty dictator.
- I think our inner critics are a survival tool gone rogue. It’s gone into overdrive trying to keep us safe and protect us from failure, rejection and harm. Ultimately it can keep us totally paralyzed and stuck. You can compare it to an overprotective parent.
- If you had a committee that was helping you decide what to do the inner critic would be the doom and gloom. That worst-case scenario person. You must remember that “old storm clouds” do not have the only opinion or outcome to take into account when making decisions.
- I think it’s important to build your relationship with that inner critic. I think the inner critic is important. It plays an important role in the overall mental health of your entire being.
- One of the first things you must realize when dealing with your inner critic is the idea that it is not your enemy. It is not something that has to be defeated and discarded. Though it is overprotective your inner critic is actually on your side. It’s just taking it too far.
- You could have an inner cheerleader instead of an inner critic.
Hunted down to speak for audiences including Microsoft, Barclays and Invesco, Harriet has empowered thousands of people over the last 17 years to believe in themselves and their potential.
She has been through multiple transformations herself and knows what it takes to make deep-rooted changes that stick and to get through tough times and emerge wiser. Harriet is 18 years in recovery from addictions, left an unhappy marriage and went on to thrive, shifted from a 10-year banking career into motherhood and entrepreneurship. Harriet lives with a permanent pain condition after being driven into the motorway and is a breast cancer survivor.
Harriet’s mission is to make sure people know their true value. She empowers clients and audiences to leave behind self-doubt, sabotaging patterns and overwhelming in favour of new ways of thinking, feeling and acting that create confidence, well-being and success. Vanessa Vallely OBE, MD of WeAreThe City describes Harriet as ‘a real superwoman who empowers others wherever she goes.’
‘Release Your Inner Critic’
Website:
*Facebook Page*
https://www.facebook.com/groups/hwcTSS
*Twitter Profile*
https://twitter.com/harriet_wc
