There is no question that ADULTS are exposed to bullying every day both at work and in their personal lives. However, a significant amount of the bullying YOU are confronted with – COMES FROM YOU! It is astonishing how often your INNER CRITIC negatively impacts your thoughts and actions on both a conscious AND unconscious level.

The Truth Behind Your Inner Critic

 – Your Inner Critic is one of the most harmful and complex bullies you are confronted with daily.

– That small voice only you can hear is actually an extension of the negativity you have experienced throughout your childhood, professionally and personally.

– Your Inner Critic hinders your ability to thrive. In fact, you may be so bullied that you don’t even realize you have a voice and a choice to reject this bullying and to change how you feel about yourself.

How to Identify Your Inner Critic

 As in most bullying scenarios, you start to believe that the destructive comments levied against you are true. It can seem virtually impossible to even separate the comments of your inner critic from the truth. In order to FREE yourself from your inner bully’s presence, you must be able to IDENTIFY your inner critic. Here are a few places you can spot it:  – It’s the voice that tells you that you’re never good enough, at work and in your personal life, to reach your aspirations. –  It taunts you with cries that you are not attractive enough. –  It’s points out that others have better lives than you. –  It constantly repeats negative comments that strangers, colleagues and loved ones have made about you.

How to Manage Your Inner Critic

The good news is that you’re stronger and better than whatever your inner critic tells you about yourself. You have the ability to control your inner bully, and in doing so, you can transform your life. Start to curb your negative thoughts from ruling your emotions and thoughts by doing the following:

 – Jot down all negative thoughts you think about yourself every day and the scenarios in which they occur.

– As you notice a theme in these negative comments, create a written list of positive statements about yourself that are the direct opposite of the negative ones.

– Whenever a negative self thought occurs throughout your day, choose a positive comment from your list and repeat it to yourself three times.

Using these steps daily teaches your Inner Critic to say positive things about you and turns your “IC” into your biggest fan. Adding this strategy of “AGENT OF TRANSFORMATION” to your list of strengths helps you to easily overcome your Inner Critic. Please share your experiences on The VLNetwork and inspire others to follow your lead to a positive self-image.