Sitting in Self-Judgment | UA117 The Unlikely Artist

We all criticize ourselves. We believe that if we judge ourselves harshly, that will spur us on to take the actions we need to take or protect us from disappointment. Our negative judgments don’t accomplish either result.

At the end of this podcast, I present some actions you can use to defend yourself against unproductive self-judgments:

Build an awareness of all the ways you judge yourself negatively.
When you notice your self-criticisms, refuse to criticize yourself for criticizing yourself. (Don’t double down on your self-criticism!)
Build counterarguments to the negative judgments you have about yourself.
Relisten to this episode and explore the reasons you’ve believed criticizing yourself is useful or will protect you from disappointment. Review your accomplishments and notice that negative self talk wasn’t what actually what inspired your actions. Notice how judging yourself negatively ahead of time was unhelpful. Instead, identify the compassionate and self-approving judgments that have led to positive outcomes in your life.

Expect self-criticism to continue and develop go-to thoughts to counter your most common self-criticisms.