<ul><li>Proactively build a coping toolbox with techniques to help relieve excessive self-criticism when it arises, rather than reacting in the moment.</li><li>Potential tools include journaling, exercise, counseling, mindfulness practices, distraction, cognitive restructuring and more.</li></ul>Find what works best for you.

Building Your Coping Toolbox 

The inner critic is the voice inside our heads that finds fault and shortcoming in just about everything we do.

Failure and mistakes should be redefined as an essential, inevitable part of the learning process and personal growth rather than something to be avoided at all costs.<ul><li>Adopting a growth mindset allows you to move past perfectionism, excessive self-blame and fear of failure.</li><li>Reframe moments of failure as feedback and opportunity for improvement.</li></ul>

Reframing Failure as Growth 

Self-compassion studies show that treating yourself with kindness and empathy not only helps abate harsh self-criticism, but also enhances motivation.

Take time to deeply reflect on the situations or circumstances that tend to trigger the voice of your inner critic, whether it's taking on challenges, receiving evaluations, comparisons with others, etc.Uncover the roots of your inner critic, like childhood experiences, trauma, personality traits or cognitive distortions.

Examining Your Critic's Triggers

The inner critic manifests in our minds through repetitive, harshly judgmental self-talk that points out perceived mistakes, inadequacies, faults and shortcomings.Recognizing the negative tone and repetitive nature of this inner voice is the first step in banishing your inner critic.Become aware of when your inner dialogue becomes critical rather than constructive.

Identifying Your Inner Critic's Voice

<ul><li>Intentionally counteract the harsh judgments of your inner critic with conscious self-compassion.</li><li>Actively treat yourself with the same empathy, care and kindness you would show a dear friend in challenging times.</li><li>Daily self-compassion practices like positive affirmations, self-care, and loving-kindness meditation can transform self-talk.</li></ul>

Practicing Self-Compassion

<ul><li>Make conscious choices each day to stick to utilizing your coping strategies.</li><li>Celebrate small wins and progress.</li><li>Enlist others to hold you accountable.</li><li>Be vigilant, as old critical patterns of thinking may resurface even after initial improvements.</li><li>Changing deeply ingrained self-talk requires ongoing effort.</li></ul>

Maintaining Positive Changes Long-Term

The book Banish Your Inner Critic by Denise Jacobs aims to help readers silence their inner critic and overcome self-doubt. It provides strategies to cultivate more positive self-talk and transform one's relationship with failure.

“Gives you the practical tools you need to own the room by owning yourself. Banish that inner devil’s advocate and become as powerful as you can be.” —Alan Cooper, software alchemist, cofounder of Cooper   As the Founder and Chief Creativity Evangelist of “The Creative Dose,” Denise Jacobs teaches techniques to make the creative process more fluid, methods for making work environments more conducive to personal productivity, and practices for sparking innovation. Now, in her book, Banish Your Inner Critic, Denise shows you how to defeat those barriers that are holding you back and achieve success through a positive mental attitude.   Banish Your Inner Critic shows you how to move beyond that mental block to your creative ideas, realize instant relief and lasting insight, and:   · Identify and quiet the voice of self-doubt in your head · Master 3 powerful practices that will transform how you relate to yourself and your creativity forever · Overcome the fear of not knowing enough or not being original enough · Free yourself from comparisons, overwhelm, high self-criticism and self-sabotage · Transform your self-talk into a tool for success · Generate more creative ideas than ever before · Embrace your expertise and share your brilliance with the world   Banish your Inner Critic to start doing your best work, achieving excellence, and contributing meaningfully to the world!   “If you’re interested in diving deep into your own creative genius, this book will give you an abundance of ways to do that.” —Michelle Villalobos, “The Superstar Activator” & founder of The Women’s Success Summit   “A book I believe will inspire a new generation to step out of the shadows and shine.” —Paul Boag, author of User Experience Revolution