5 Strategies for Overcoming Your Biggest Critic-YOU!

The path to achieving your goals can be filled with barriers, big and small, which can slow your progress. Perhaps you lack the confidence necessary to speak in public, or you feel as though you don’t have the skill set required to accomplish the task at hand. Maybe you aren’t able to manage your time effectively or invest the hours you need to perform at your best.

Whatever it is, recognize that these are temporary obstacles and not permanent roadblocks. There are ways to make it over these speed bumps and around detours on your way to achieving your goals. Begin by learning to hit pause, stand back and assess the situation. Realize the problem for what it is, and trust you can discover solutions. Ultimately, there isn’t much you can’t overcome to achieve success. Unfortunately, there is one hurdle that’s very difficult to get past, one person who can stand in the way and create a barrier to your success. That person is you. And you can be one tough critic.

So, how do you know if you’re the one who is preventing you from achieving the goals you’ve set for yourself? And how can you learn to get out of your way? Below are five approaches to help you go from being your worst critic to becoming your own champion!

When you find your desire to achieve your goal has slowed, for no obvious reason, it’s time to take a good look at yourself. More often than not, when things don’t happen as swiftly as we would like, we tend to begin a negative inner dialog. Here is a checklist to help you overcome those negative thoughts and get back on track.

Believe in Your Own Success

The first step to realizing any goal is believing in yourself. Of course, it’s usually easiest at the beginning, when your confidence and momentum are strongest. “I’ve got this!” is your mantra in the earliest days. Somewhere along the way self-doubt creeps in, shaking your confidence and changing your mantra to a far less enthusiastic claim. Learn to stop the negative thoughts as soon as they enter your head. Remember your past successes and accomplishments. Take your approach in smaller increments and appreciate these mini-triumphs. As you progress, confidence in your ability to achieve that which you’ve set out to do will grow stronger.

Stay positive by ending each day reflecting on at least three victories, no matter how small, or unrelated to your primary goal. Talk to someone you trust and someone who believes in you. Their belief in your ability can be a powerful encourager.

Learn From Your Mistakes

Far too many people are embarrassed and hurt by their mistakes, which is entirely understandable. To achieve real success, in life, in business, and in relationships, you must learn from misfortunes and failures by developing foresight to create growth and positive change.

Don’t hide from your mistakes and don’t ignore the occurrence. Fear of failure is understandable, but face your fears and failures. Show the world that, yes, you stumbled, and maybe you even fell, on your path. But you got up, got going and grew from that setback. You’ve learned what not to do and now you’re a whole lot the wiser for it.

Hit the Help Button

Asking for help is never a sign of weakness. Quite the opposite, when you’re stuck and don’t know the answer, reach out to a colleague, mentor, or friend. With the support of even just one other person, you’re that much stronger. Being able to share the burden lightens the load, can shift perspective, and help you stay the course to success.

Silence Your Inner Micromanager

The leader within knows that the fastest way to disrupt and even alienate your team members is by micromanaging. The same is true when you attempt to micromanage yourself, examining and questioning every approach to solving a problem. Not only is this approach unhealthy for your team, interpersonal relationships, and yourself, it can lead to extreme stress and emotional burnout.

Slow down a bit. Take the time to let things evolve organically. Impatience can be a success crusher, and when things aren’t happening at the desired pace, very often you begin to micromanage in an attempt to control things. Get out of your way and observe for a bit. Just when your dream seems to have stalled, the natural course of events will move you along. Practice mindfulness, be in the moment and trust good things will happen.

Embrace the New

According to Albert Einstein, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results. The only way you and your life are going to change is to learn to lean into change and embrace every experience as an opportunity for growth. For example, learning new software, working with individuals you don’t know, presenting on a subject that’s new to you, even changes on the home front, can make you feel a little shaky and undermine your confidence.

Most successful people learn to embrace change. They understand that everything around them changes all of the time and they adapt accordingly. Although change can be exciting, it can also be fearful and a bit overwhelming. When we proactively embrace change and learn to accept it as a part of life, we are more likely to be filled with calmness, peace, and courage. When change happens you have two choices: Accept it or resist it. The choice is yours. What is stopping you from learning to embrace the new?

Let Yourself Shine

 Each and every day you are faced with golden opportunities to grow, to learn new skills, and to develop as an individual and valued team member. Be it home, work or anywhere in our daily lives, we all have those occasions to navigate challenges, problem-solve, and manage those details in our personal wheelhouse, which utilize our strengths and gifts to their best ability. This is when we truly shine.

So quiet those inner voices of self-doubt, learn from your mistakes, and ask for help from those around you. Celebrate change and learn to ride the waves as they come.