My voice is a put down artist.

I’ve got a little voice in my head that keeps score. Mostly it tells me about every target I have missed; every task that I haven’t completed. I think that we all have that voice but I suspect that some people have either gagged it or turned down the volume. Mine is a put-down artist reminding me that I weight too much; haven’t managed to grow my income or my blog readers and am generally inadequate. It stays current on my failings and makes sure that I know the score. That is good information. I need to have a realistic understanding about my status because nothing can be worse than believing you are in better shape than you are – or is it? What if it is really worse to think that you are in worse shape. Because that little voice has a bias. It undervalues your accomplishments or worse, ignores them altogether.

How can you challenge that little voice?

It is easy to emphasize the negatives and hard to notice what you are doing right or even that you are making progress on your goals when your only source of information is that little voice in your head. You need different feedback. But how do you do that? I think there are three ways: Measure your progress objectively, get independent feedback, form an alliance. Each of these provides you a check against the bias of the little voice. Each of them requires you to commit to your goals and take some action. Each of them gives you ammunition to challenge the little voice and find out just where you are with your goals. And each of them is difficult to do because they might just confirm that the little voice is right and you really are a big loser.

It is a challenge I face every day. Have I got the guts to confront that little voice by getting an outside opinion? Am I willing to risk proving that it is right by measuring my progress? Can I risk the damage to my ego by taking on a partner in my quest? Or will I continue to hesitate and doubt my progress or worse give up?

My little voice has a glass jaw

My little voice seems powerful and all knowing when it stands unchallenged but it has a glass jaw. When I find the courage to challenge it’s authority, it falls and takes the count. I have learned over time that it is always wrong, sometimes more and sometimes less but still wrong and undervaluing my abilities and accomplishments. Even so, it is hard for me each time. I think about challenging it. I never seem to learn,

What about your little voice?

Do you challenge your little voice. Or have you gagged it? How do deal with your little voice?

Originally posted 2010-12-29 09:38:31. Republished by Blog Post Promoter