First of all, I was asked to do a panel Saturday night. When I got there and saw my friend behind a podium (with a microphone!)… I almost lost my cookies. And yes… that is what I had to do. Share my story in front of a fairly large group from behind that podium. That’s a FIRST for me, for sure.

One good thing about “telling your story” is that you really can’t mess it up, because it IS your story! It never changes! Overall I think it went well. Which leads me to the point of my post…

My inner critic.

Let the Lunatics Out of the Attic

I read the coolest thing in a book on introverts. Visualizing your inner critic. I’m sharing it with you because there must be someone else out there who could benefit from it. That’s my guess anyway.

So, the inner critic starts out looking like a big ogre. A large, mean and very grumpy looking character. He looks a bit like a judge; wearing a robe, a frown and holding a gavel. Why he’s a HE I don’t know… you tell me (that’s supposed to be humorous).

He says things like “you can’t do that!;” “you’re not doing enough!” or “You don’t know enough!”

Sound familiar?

Anyway… this guy just got an overhaul. We changed his look, AND his demeanor. Now he’s a cool looking dude with a hat, flip flops, shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. And he only says encouraging things. “Nice job!” — “You’re doing great!” — “Don’t worry… you are right where you need to be!”.

So… that’s what I’ve been practicing, and I can tell you it’s made a huge difference. And what’s funny is that I don’t have to do it much. Just knowing that this new guy rolled into town seems to be enough to keep that old grouchy judge at bay. He’s learning that he’s no longer in charge, and that he’s not allowed to spill out his negativity.

I’ve been looking forward to sharing this because it really IS very helpful.

Don’t worry—be happy.
And stay cool man.