Neutralising your inner critic to embrace your creativity

Within each of us, there is the potential for creativity.  I like to think of it as a vast internal reservoir, brimming full of water.  Whether or not we’re accessing that creativity, it’s there, waiting for the moments when it can start to flow.  So what gets in the way of the flow?  From the title of this post, you’ve probably guessed it – more often than not, the saboteur that blocks the creative flow is none other than your inner critic.  Unless you’re superhuman, you’re probably familiar with this voice.  It’s the one that pronounces judgement, tells you you’re falling short, or that you shouldn’t even bother trying.

So how can you neutralise your inner critic to embrace your creativity? Here are three tips which can help:

1.       Acknowledge your inner critic kindly, but let it know its input is not needed

An important thing to understand about your inner critic is that it is an outdated coping mechanism which formed during your early years.  Ironically, your inner critic developed as a way of anticipating and avoiding the potential criticism of others – in short, to try to protect you from emotional hurts. But by the time you are an adult, this mechanism can often get in the way of doing and trying things that could actually be the key to new creative growth.  When you hear your inner critic speaking, it’s useful to first acknowledge that your inner critic is trying to help, but then let it know kindly that its input is no longer needed.

2.       Listen out for another, quieter voice – that of your inner sage

The great news is that you have an ally that can help you neutralise your inner critic and embrace your creativity instead.  This ally can be described most simply as your inner sage.  The inner sage is another, often quieter voice which is a source of great wisdom.  The inner sage is the bearer of the truths you know to be real when you are in a place of calm.  Its messages are often simple but are powerful and come from a place of love.  By acknowledging the existence of this voice, you can learn to listen out for it and over time it will become easier to hear.

3.       Take hold of your inner wisdom and act on it in your creative choices

Now that you’ve identified these two voices, you can start to get curious about whether the internal message you’re hearing at any moment is coming from your inner critic, or your inner sage.  Here’s a hint – it all comes down to tone.  If the tone is judgmental, you can bet your inner critic is operating.  You can play with and gently challenge the messages coming from your inner critic by getting curious about what your inner sage might like to say instead. When you hear the kind, compassionate or interested tone of your inner sage pipe up (listen carefully!), then take hold of that wisdom and consider how you could take a creative step which aligns with it.  It could be something as simple as allowing yourself to create something silly just because it seems like fun, or as profound as making a change in your life which aligns better with your values.  Overall, this process will work best if you take an approach of staying curious, listening to what comes up, and experimenting with new ideas or actions.

If you follow this process, then over time, more and more you’ll hear the gentle, loving and insightful wisdom of your inner sage and be guided to take creative action that aligns with this wisdom. Good luck! I’d love to hear about how this process works for you and any new ideas or actions you came up with as a result.