Professionals who are actively striving to achieve more, whether at work or at home, often face an unexpected obstacle: their own inner critic. Negative self-talk can lead to symptoms of imposter syndrome and self-sabotaging behaviors, significantly hindering their momentum and undermining their confidence.
By learning to recognize these mental roadblocks, ambitious individuals can begin to unlock their full potential and find the success they seek in their careers and personal lives. Below, 14 members of Forbes Agency Council share effective ways to silence your inner critic and neutralize the internal judgments that are holding you back from making real progress toward achieving your loftiest goals.
1. Develop Deep Self-Awareness
Name your self-saboteurs—understand their stories and their usual messages, and explore the good intent behind each saboteur. Recognize and acknowledge them when they emerge. Imagine you are driving your car, and suddenly you realize somebody else has taken the wheel. Face and acknowledge them, then say, “Thank you for trying to help, but I am driving today.” Be present and take control back. – Isabelle Claus Teixeira, Business and Human Development Consulting Pte Ltd
2. Dispute Negative Thoughts With Evidence
The first step is to recognize when the internal judge is speaking—questioning your abilities or flooding you with doubts. Catch those thoughts and write them down without judgment. Then, counter each negative thought with a rational, evidence-based positive thought to shift your mindset. With practice, you can learn to dispute distorted thinking and replace it with beliefs that serve your goals. – Jonathan H. Westover, Ph.D., Human Capital Innovations
3. Listen To Emotions As Messengers
Internal judges and unconscious self-saboteurs are about our unmet needs. If we focus on what we are feeling, we can gain access to our emotions and learn how to quickly recognize them. Then, we can welcome those emotions as messengers and properly use the information we receive as requests. For example: “I feel angry because I’m afraid we might lose this deal—so I am asking to focus on finding all the best solutions.” – Dominik Szot, MIA
4. Check Assumptions For Bias
Trust is a nonnegotiable for people who want to achieve more. Internal guards can go up quickly (which erodes trust) when you assume something about someone else with little to zero data based on your internal judge and unconscious self-saboteurs. It’s important to be aware of your biases. To reduce the effect of biases, ask yourself the question, “How do I know this to be true?” – Alex Draper, DX Learning Solutions
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5. Face Your Internal Judge
Similar to a mirroring exercise, when your internal judge rears itself, stop yourself in that thought process and face the judge as if looking in a mirror. In order to neutralize the negativity, you have to give it permission to invade your thoughts. And if you choose not to, then let that doubt pass. Dealing with it in the moment through self-talk prevents any further spiral into negativity. – Arthi Rabikrisson, Prerna Advisory
6. Focus On Your Strengths
Professionals can start by cultivating self-awareness through mindfulness or reflection. By recognizing negative thought patterns, they can consciously challenge and reframe them in a positive way. Setting realistic goals and focusing on strengths rather than weaknesses also helps build confidence. Practicing self-compassion and maintaining a growth mindset are also crucial for achieving sustainable success. – Adaora Ayoade, EZ37 Solutions
7. Use Humor To Diminish Inner Saboteurs’ Power
To neutralize your internal judge and self-saboteurs, identify and create a mental image of them. Use humor to engage in an internal dialogue that diminishes their power. Focus on your strengths, and reframe negative thoughts into positive affirmations. Mindfulness, meditation, mentor feedback and a growth mindset will all help transform self-criticism into constructive growth. – Patricia Burlaud, P. Burlaud Consulting, LLC
8. Explore Negative Emotions
The person you have to beat to succeed is yourself. Everyone has positive and negative inner voices that help propel us or hold us back. Name them. Claim them. If you are ready to do the work, explore negative trigger emotions: fear, self-doubt, anxiety, guilt, resentment, frustration, shame and envy. Get the support of a mentor, coach, counselor or advisor to transform them into powerful co-players, not roadblocks. – Jodie Charlop, Exceleration Partners
9. Stop Fighting Against Your Saboteur
Stop fighting against the inner saboteur. Getting really intimate with your saboteur and recognizing the untrue messages that keep you playing things safe and small will help you process this obstacle and integrate it as a tool to use. Fighting against it is simply delaying your access to a rich resource’s value. – Alecia Wellen, Alecia Wellen Coaching
10. Name Your Inner Critics
When striving for higher accomplishments, manage and mitigate your inner critics by first naming them—maybe “Doubtful Dan” or “Pessimistic Patty,” for example—to diminish their power. Next, use a “three positives for one negative” rule: counter each critical thought with three affirmations of your success. Finally, do regular “confidence check-ins,” where you reflect on past victories and strategize your next bold moves. – Alla Adam, Alla Adam Coaching
11. Pause To Consider What Is True
When judgmental thoughts appear, pause and ask yourself, “What do I know to be true?” Taking this pause and asking this question promotes distance and allows you to see your thoughts objectively. Also, please stop falling into the comparison trap of following what others are doing unless you find that it motivates you to act and helps you move forward in the direction you want to go. – Karen Tracy, Dr. Karen A Tracy, LLC
12. Turn Self-Criticism Into Positive, Actionable Feedback
To overcome your inner critic, first recognize and then challenge it by turning self-criticism into positive, actionable feedback. Regular self-reflection helps you spot and stop self-sabotage. Practicing mindfulness can also quiet self-doubt, letting you focus more on achieving your goals and growing personally and professionally. – Michelle Maree, The Nomad Escape
13. Focus On Improving, Change, And Do It All Again
The complexity of judgment requires a focused effort across all of life, not just at work. Learn about why this matters, seek impressions of how you come across, target skills and techniques to improve, and practice them and apply them. Do it all again. Successful change requires humility, open-mindedness, courage to change and a fundamental belief that fairness and respect are important. – Maryann Billington, Action Leadership Group LLC
14. Inventory Your Top Career Achievements
I encourage clients to inventory their top eight to 12 career achievements and, for each, cite the problem they solved, their approach, obstacles they overcame and the results they delivered. Self-doubt is usually strongest when we are embarking upon something new or unfamiliar. Reflecting on their inventory of achievements is a powerful antidote to negative self-talk, and dwelling on their past successes incites positive action. – Andrea Nicholas, Andrea Nicholas Coachsulting
