080: Make Your Inner Critic Part of Your Creative Practice

Inner Work with Steli Efti

Whenever you pour your heart into a creative endeavor, those critical thoughts can derail you.

"You can't do this."

"This isn't good enough."

"Who do you think you are to even try?"

(And yeah—I'm holding back here. The voices in my head are much harsher.)

You can try to fight these voices. That's been my go-to-strategy for much of my life. "STFU, I'm gonna do it anyway."

That works. Sometimes. But over time, it also gets very, very tiring.

Now, I'm trying something different.

I listen to these voices. I appreciate them for speaking up, because I know: They have a reason for saying these things. There's an underlying positive intent. I might not always understand that intent, nor agree with it. But I do believe that these critical parts of myself have my best interest at heart.

This is changing me, and changing the way I work.

I noticed this again on the second day of my 30 day creative writing challenge.

Shownotes: https://steliefti.com/inner-critic-friend/

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