Can you hear it? Questioning every move you make, asking if you have done enough, challenging your decisions of what’s next? Yes, we all have it. The critical mind that constantly ask those questions and many more. It does not matter where we are in life or how well we are doing, most of us always has that voice that is challenging, questioning, or even judging our thoughts and actions. This process can be helpful if balanced and kept realistic but for most of us it can be an endless track of judgment. So how can we quiet the critical mind? How can we slow down endless thinking?
Think about the reasons our mind would have to criticize or judge ourselves. It must be based on some expectation, goal or ideal right? What are we measuring ourselves against? What is that little voice always saying? It’s sad to say but most of us can think the most awful things about ourselves. Telling ourselves how we need to do more, be more, become more. But why? Many of us have programmed ourselves to measure our worth against certain expectations. We have ideas of what success looks like…if I get that promotion, if I have a happy family, if I am healthy. We may have formed these ideas long ago based on what we experienced and who or what influenced our lives. If you were always told you did not deserve something such as love, success, or happiness, then chances are you always set your expectations so you can never receive these things.
This is the old programming in our mind. Our belief system or set of rules for our reality. If we were always told you do not deserve “fill in the blank” then chances are we did things to re-enforce that belief system. We may have self-criticized and said we would never be good enough, or good things never happen to me, or see it turned out exactly as I expected. We end up creating situations where we cannot accept good things. For example, what if you always wanted a certain kind of car. But in your mind, it was out of reach because you didn’t earn it, or you never could have the money for it. You kept telling your mind the reasons why you cannot have it. By doing this you are telling the universe I cannot have this wonderful car. Your critical mind just re-enforced your belief system that you cannot have the car. You are almost like a lawyer arguing the case as to why you cannot have it. Because of this you will never get the new car. Unless you change your belief system it will never allow you to have it.
What is your mind currently criticizing of you? What things is it saying no to? What old beliefs is that pesky voice trying to retain? Try and make a list of the common things your mind is criticizing of you. Then ask where and when was the belief formed that said you could not have or receive it. That is where you need to focus your healing. Changing that old belief system. Challenging the old programming in your head that says why you cannot have or deserve certain things. When that voice comes up to say no and here is why ask yourself does that still apply in my life or am I just repeating the old programming? Question those thoughts and really challenge WHY can’t I have these wonderful things? WHY don’t I deserve this?
Sometimes we can get caught in the old patterns and loops that it is hard to press pause and question those beliefs. Chances are you have held these criticisms of yourself for almost all your life. Nothing ever came along to prove it wrong. Well maybe that was because you kept doing things to re-enforce that belief system. Have you self-sabotaged to create the results that prove you don’t deserve something. If you keep looking outside of yourself for proof from people or situations you will NEVER find it. Because your belief system is so strong it will find other evidence to win your case of not deserving. So the only way you can bring about this change is to challenge and change your belief system. You need to be the one to love and honor yourself. You need to be the one to say I am good enough and deserve wonderful things. This is the secret that many of us never learn. That we are the only ones that can heal this critical mind. We are the only ones that can challenge that old belief system and finally crumble it down. We are the only ones that will ever have the power to give ourselves the permission to receive good things.
So take some time to really challenge that critical mind. What old beliefs have you been hanging on to that no longer serve you? Do you want to change these things in your life? Are you ready to put in the effort to heal and make bigger changes in your life? Because when you do it is amazing how much your life can change for the positive. You can bring so much happiness and joy into your life if you believe you deserve it. Get out of the old programming and start to program a new belief system. One that says you deserve good things. It might not resonate at first but that is part of the healing. Keep challenging and have the awareness of what you are thinking. Is it the old programming or something new? This is how you can break down that pesky critical voice and start living your best life!