Inner Critic {Worksheets}

If you are looking for inner critic worksheets, then you are probably interested in silencing your negative self-talk. What you may not realize is just how powerful self-critical thoughts and negative self talk are when we don’t put a stop to it. It is our inner critic that leads us to experience deep pain. It sparks the lie that we are not lovable or worthy of love and belonging because of our flaws and weaknesses. There is nothing more painful than feeling unlovable or as though we don’t belong. However, there is hope! We can change the way we think about ourselves and talk to ourselves. When we begin to silence our negative inner critic voices, life begins to change. We will begin to believe a new thing about ourselves. As a result that will change everything…our lives, our relationships and our future.

What are core beliefs?

Our core beliefs inform everything we do in life. These beliefs are often shaped by our childhood, past and present events in our lives. Core beliefs define who we are, who God is and the world or people around us. What we believe shapes our thoughts, feelings and actions. Perception is reality. Have you considered what you believe about yourself? Pause for a second and consider describing yourself. And once you are done describing yourself, how do you know if your beliefs about yourself are true or false?

As Christians, we use Scripture as the guide for what we believe. Scripture says we matter and are incredibly lovable. We are all made in God’s image and therefore have value. God demonstrates just how valuable we are though His relentless pursuit of our hearts. He goes to extreme lengths to display His reckless and unstoppable love for His children. If your narrative does not align with these truths, then your narrative is false.

Negative Critic Examples

Your negative inner critic is the voice that follows you everywhere! Sometimes our negative inner critic is worse to us than the outside world. When someone in your life is negative, you can typically walk away, but the voice of your inner critic goes with you all the time. Your negative inner critic likely tears you down, condemns and shames you. The words we say to ourselves are very powerful. They have the power to build you up or break you down. What does your inner voice say to you? Examples of your negative inner critic might say things like you are bad, worthless, unlovable. Examples also include self defeating things like name calling and generally insulting ourselves. Interestingly, we say things to ourselves that we wouldn’t say to close friends or anyone for that matter. As a result, we crush our own self esteem and become our worst enemy.

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21

Developing Your Inner Coach

A coach is someone who is able to identify strengths and weaknesses. Yes, it’s true…we all have strengths and weaknesses. These are areas that need refining, development and strengthening. When we develop our inner coach, we begin to say things to ourselves that are encouraging rather than self-defeating. Developing your inner coach is a great way to change the script. In the initial steps of changing that inner voice becoming your own coach will be paramount to overcoming the critical voice in your own head. The inner critic worksheets will help you overcome unhelpful thoughts.

Inner Critic Exercises

Strengths-Spotting Exercises

As I mentioned earlier, we all have weaknesses and it is helpful to honestly evaluate what our stregths and weaknesses are so we can adequately address both. However, when we have a negative inner critic that has a tendency to shout our weaknesses in our own head, we have to say “STOP!” Are you giving an equal amount of time to shouting your strengths at yourself? I’m guessing you don’t do that. Actually, I would be willing to bet you don’t pay any attention to what you do well. Strengths-spotting exercises help us to pay attention to what we do well. This is a good way to silence the inner critic next time you are tempted to beat yourself up! Stop honing in on your weaknesses and begin meditating and praising God for the gifts and talents He has specifically given to you.

Gratitude Journals

One of my favorite ways to help others shift away from negative self talk and toward positive thinking is through gratitude journaling. We have a choice to train our brain to focus on the positive things rather than the negative. This does take practice, but it is a powerful way to shift our thought life. Whatever we put our mind on will only grow in power. Imagine putting your mind on the good things God is accomplishing in and through you.

Speech Bubbles

Do you already know what your inner voice says to you? People typically know they feel bad, but don’t know why they feel so bad or why their self esteem is so low, but it comes from our thoughts. Feelings always come from our thoughts. I can’t engage in positive thinking and feel negative emotions. It doesn’t work that way! This brings me back to the original question… what is your inner script? Pay attention to what you say to yourself. This is where speech bubbles come into play. Draw a speech bubble down on a piece of paper and fill in your own negative self talk. (Or download the inner critic worksheets!) Then draw a speech bubble next to it with a replacement thought. Choose words you would say to close friends. Typically we would never talk as harshly to someone else as we talk to ourselves. Can you imagine saying the negative words you might be saying to yourself to another person?

Practice Self Compassion

Compassion is recognizing the suffering someone is experiencing and taking action. I want to encourage you to practice self compassion. That means, when you are in a hard place, rather than beating yourself up, try being kind to yourself instead. Practice encouraging words toward yourself. Vital life skills in this cold world include practicing self compassion, mirroring the character of Christ toward ourselves.

Stop Black and White Thinking

When we are battling a negative inner critic, we tend to engage in black and white thinking. An example of this would be telling ourself that one little mistake makes everything a complete fail. Wouldn’t it be more accurate to identify that there was success as well? Black and white thinking makes everything a complete fail or totally perfect. The reality is- this world is not as black and white as we make it out to be. In fact, there is a great deal of grey area in life. Choose to acknowledge the successes and the fails- they can exist together.

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Wrapping Up: Inner Critic {Worksheets}

Stop beating yourself up. It’s time to do a new thing. Download the free inner critic worksheets to help you begin problem solving this negative inner voice and trading that voice in for one that is gentle, kind and encouraging. Regardless of when and where that false core belief made it’s way into your life, we can trade lies for truth at any point.

When we let our negative self talk take control, we pay the extra costs. Those extra costs are less peace, less joy, less confidence, and will erode relationships and the gifts and talents God has created in us. While silencing the negative self-talk is hard work, it is worth every bit of effort. You have likely spent a long time listening to your negative inner critic, but everyone reaches their breaking point. As a result, you are looking for new ideas, new ways to speak to yourself. Self awareness is the first step to change. This is where you find yourself today! I’m excited for you- this could be the thing that shifts things in your life.

Ways to Silence the Inner Critic: Recap

Doing a new thing includes re-training your brain to engage in positive thinking rather than focusing on the negative. Specific ways to do this include, recognizing you have strengths- you were created with gifts and talents designed to bring glory to God. Begin looking for the strengths by honestly evaluating what you do well or ask a trusted friend to help you identify the good. Picking up a gratitude journal can help you focus on the good things God is doing in you and through you. Resesarch shows an increase in contentment when we practice gratitude.

Trade negative self talk for kinder words. Identify what you are saying to yourself and replace those words with something more encouraging and kind. That is how you practice self compassion- stop adding harsh words to your daily routine. And finally, no more black and white thinking. Give yourself permission to have good and bad, strengths and weaknesses at the same time. Downloading the free inner critic worksheets will help you get started.

Additional Resources

In previous posts, I have a lot of great information on core beliefs with a free download, in this article. Additionally, check out 10 Ways to Stop Negative Self Talk in this post. Don’t forget to grab your free therapy worksheets to help you begin practicing positive self talk!