March 1st, 2024.
This is something that has been on my mind lately for a couple of reasons: one, because I do suffer from the voice of my own inner critic and two, because I have, in my mind, experienced a more than fair amount of perceived "failures" during the past year or so. Or at least I thought this until I managed to turn my thoughts around.
The other night, in our Next Level Transformation Program, we had a guest speaker, a sports psychologist present and he gave us some amazing advice and tips on how to own our minds. After hearing everyone's questions and requests for words of wisdom, I quickly remembered, surprise surprise, others have an inner critic too.
We all know those thoughts that creep into our head when something doesn't go as well as we hoped or expected and often it can be very difficult to shut these thoughts off or turn them around.
I want to share something that my business coach told me. She advised me to name my inner critic and also use an adjective to describe her. I chose to name her Judgemental Jennifer because my inner critic tends to judge Steph pretty harshly and Jennifer because it starts with J and super random... many people say I look like a Jennifer.
Now, whenever Judgemental Jennifer starts talking, I literally tell her to shut up, sometimes adding in some extra harsh words. This may seem super weird but it has actually helped me.
Try it, pick the worst attribute of your inner critic and put it in front of a name.... Overthinking Olivia... Anxious Angela... Jealous Josh. Sorry if I used your name 😅
Part of the reason this helps is because you are identifying the behaviour and that it's coming from your inner critic and not your higher self.
What I have also come to learn is that the thoughts you entertain the most, are the ones most likely to become your perceived reality. So if you miss hitting a target at the gym or see something you weren't expecting on the scale, you have two choices: one, you can ruminate on what you don't like or two, you can quickly find something to celebrate and focus on that. If you decide to focus on the negative, that is going to become your perception of yourself- the person who can't run a mile under 7 minutes, bench 180 lbs, gain muscle etc. On the flip side, If you chose to see yourself as someone who is strong and healthy, prioritizing their fitness or a person who now gets to eat more calories so that they can continue to get stronger, that becomes your reality. The last example was my most recent, almost meltdown until I checked myself.
Most thoughts people have are negative, so it actually takes deliberate practice to master this and think positively.
Today I failed at a new deadlift weight attempt. I actually didn't even have time to get disappointed because my trainer knew to quickly change the activity and build my confidence with something else, celebrating all the gains that I have made over the past weeks. This is also an example of why investing in a coach is the best thing you can do!
When it comes to nutrition, it is easy enough to find information on healthy food, but the journey to improving your health, fitness, performance and well-being has it's ups and downs and plateaus. A coach can help you re-frame your thoughts, celebrate your wins and remind you of how awesome you really are because you may often forget to do that for yourself 😃
If you are on a journey to improve your health, fitness, performance and well-being, your nutrition is a huge determinant of your success. A coach, such as me, may be what you need to set you in the right direction and take you to your next level.
Book a connect call with me and we can chat!
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