High performers often excel at encouraging others but punish themselves with harsh self-criticism. After nine and a half years of therapy, the speaker learned to quiet their inner critic through mirror affirmations, a practice that feels awkward at first but gradually builds real confidence.
Are you a perfectionist and your inner critic's really loud? This is for you. Self-talk. So give yourself positive affirmations. It's going to feel really fucking weird at first. That's what I learned in therapy after 9 and a half years, and it was really weird at first. I was always really good at giving other people positive affirmations, but I was very poor at giving myself positive affirmations. And when you examine that, you ask yourself at least for me. I was like, am I selfish? Am I like egotistical? And, and when you get to it, you realize, why do I even have these thoughts of questioning whether I deserve love? Ask yourself that. Why are you questioning whether you deserve love? Of course you do. You're human. So get after it. Look in the mirror. Give yourself some positive affirmations. It's going to feel uncomfortable, just like the first time you ever went to the gym. Not great, but then you keep going. Feels feels a little less uncomfortable, and then you feel comfortable in your own skin, and the inner critic starts getting quieter, and the positive side of you starts getting louder, and that's where you find your best self. So get after it. I believe in you.
