- Healthy Aging
Inner Critic
“Whether you think you can, or think you can’t you’re right.”
~Henry Ford
I Think
I think, therefore I am. Life can either be a treadmill of mundane details, or it can be an adventure filled life full of uplifting experiences. Whether happiness is a goal or journey, it is important to understand how perception shapes our world. In fact, how you perceive yourself can influence, limit, or enrich your life experiences. For this reason it is important to understand how your inner voice can either be a powerful stepping-stone or a major obstacle to reaching your goals in retirement. The inner critic is that internal voice that expresses criticism, frustration, or even disapproval of our actions. As a result, it have an impact on how we perceive ourselves so great, we think we can’t. And, therefore never try.
Silencing Your Inner Critic
Some of us are aware of that voice that tells us we can’t, while others don’t even realize its presence. Awareness is the first step to recognizing and silencing your inner critic. Catch yourself the next time you are aware of feeling anxious, numb, or distracted. Identify the voice of your inner critic. Identify the situation that may have triggered the inner critic. Did it tell you that you would embarrass yourself if you tried? Unfortunately, this type of internal communication provokes both anxiety and shaming which is the opposite of motivation. Whatever the dialogue, it is often not the reality. In fact, with a little self-acceptance, self-love, and self-compassion, you can learn to silence the criticism.
“The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.”
~Arthur C. Clarke
Turning Impossible to Possible
The irony of the inner critic is that it can drive you to the brink of madness. But, it can also be a source of information about what really matters to you. Thus, your inner critic can actually reveal where your personal source of success lies. Moreover, what you think you cannot do is rarely a function of your true capacity. In fact, it is more likely a function of your beliefs about who you are. For this reason, the only way to turn impossible to possible is by believing that you can. No matter what your age, life is something to enjoy not regret! Now is the time in your life when you get to try anything, and everything! Be a painter, singer, or songwriter it does not matter, as long as you are doing what you love.
“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”
~Paulo Coclho
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