Ignoring or Refuting Your Inner Critic Will Get Easier with Time
Nov 01, 2020
Getting in the habit of addressing your inner critic can be really tough. As they say, old habits die hard. That’s because we become so used to doing things a certain way that it usually doesn’t occur to us to do them any differently. By the time we decide a change is needed, it takes serious effort to break long-held, ingrained habits. This is true of your inner critic. You’ve gotten used to hearing and believing its messages. Ignoring or refuting those words will take time. But, as with most habits, it does get easier with practice. Keep reading, and I’ll tell you why.
Your Brain Creates New Paths
One very real reason new habits, including silencing your inner critic, get easier with time is because your brain creates new neural paths the more you repeat a behavior. Your old neural pathways will remain in place, though, so you have to continue a new habit over and over in order to forge new pathways to counteract the old. These new paths will get stronger and stronger with time, eventually replacing the old one. This process makes the new habit seem automatic the more times it’s practiced.
You Become More Aware
As you start to refute your inner critic, you’ll begin to believe the new messages you give yourself. Again, those neural pathways are being put into place. You also become more aware of just how toxic the old beliefs were. When you recognize that your former thoughts were unhealthy, you’re able to better identify them and deal with them when they creep back in.
You Gain Supplementary Skills
Each time you practice any type of new habit, you are learning additional supplementary skills. Often, these are things that will increase your emotional intelligence and making adopting new habits much easier in the future. You practice dealing with discomfort as you forge through and keep trying to make new habits stick. You learn that reward comes with dedication and effort over time. It feels good to start to practice and achieve new, healthier habits. Eventually, you’ll strive for the reward of that good feeling. Putting your inner critic in its place won’t seem so overwhelming.
While practice might not make perfect, it does make new habits seem easier over time. You may slip up and find yourself falling into your old routine once in a while, and that’s okay. Just acknowledge the misstep, praise yourself for continuing to try, and then get back on track with the knowledge that repetition makes all new things less difficult over time.
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