Have you ever decided to do something and been really motivated but then talked yourself out of it for fear of being embarrasses or not good at it. The current podcast episode shows you how to silence hypercritical thinking to produce great work.
Usually there is a small voice inside you that comes up with a million reasons why what you wanted to do will result in failure. That small voice is what I call your “inner critic”. We all have one and it is the inhibitor that limits our ability to be creative, takes the fun out of life, and in a lot of instances causes us to miss opportunities. I’m not talking about the inner voice that should tell us not to wear two sets of plaids or get dressed in the dark. Those are legitimate warnings. What I am talking about are hypercritical instances that prevent venturing beyond your comfort level in order to expand our world.
A great deal of the time that inner critic works off of our own ideals of perfection. We set our goals based on an ideal that is not currently attainable and refuse to attempt something because we recognize it is currently unattainable. A perfect example of this, years ago if someone told me I looked good I would immediately respond: “Yes, but I need to lose about 10 pounds and then I will really look good.” Later I read an article that explained how in the future striving limits us. It suggested rather than focusing on those 10 
pounds when I looked in the mirror, I should ask myself “Do I look good right now?” I tried it a few times and was amazed at the change in my attitude. Yes, I still work to drop those ten pounds but in the mean time when I dress up I know I look my best for right now.
In fact, to a great extent if we go back and analyze a situation where that inner critic offered an opinion on something you did or wanted to try you would find you were responding to your fears about a situation and not reality. That’s right, the inner critic is a fear monger and you have to determine that one step at a time you will not have it! Realize that a first step is just that, a first step; and that a series of steps will serve to quiet that inner critic.
Then, just as you have built him up, begin to dismantle the inner critic brick by brick by challenging small things that he has told you were impossible. Watch someone you admire for a particular trait to see how they do it. Keep in mind that you are not going to reproduce exactly what the other person has done, that is perfectionism, but pick one or two things that you want to alter to your particular situation. Conquering these small things builds your confidence and helps you have something to point to when the critic offers an opinion. Follow this up by making the tasks you want to tackle larger and larger, again not looking for perfection but to see how much you can accomplish and where you need to make changes.
The podcast goes into a little more detail, but just remember all of this is not going to happen overnight so keep in mind that you will have to work at defeating the inner critic. He has been with you a long time and hates being replaced by another fella called confidence or heaven forbid optimism. However, once you begin to spend more time with these two, your world will change dramatically
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