Moving From Inner Critic to Inner Cheerleader

Turning down the volume on self-judgment and turning up the voice of support

Image created by author in ChatGPT

I will be honest. There have been moments during my nine months on Substack when I’ve thought about giving it all up.

Despite seeing steady growth, nearing the 1,000-subscriber milestone, and receiving the loveliest messages from readers, I sometimes still catch myself thinking, “I should be doing better.” Or worse — “Is writing really for me?”

A few years ago, I would have believed those thoughts. I would have let my inner critic dictate the story: “You’re not good enough. You’ll never be successful. Who do you think you are?”

But I’ve learned something important.

The inner critic only holds power when we believe its words.

These days, I let that voice ramble on, but I no longer attach meaning to it. It’s like background noise I’ve learned to tune out. Instead, I turned up the volume on a different voice inside me — my inner cheerleader.

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Why is our inner critic so loud?

The inner critic is not a villain, like fear; it is trying to keep us safe. The same old survival instinct. It’s the voices we pick up as we move through life, especially as children. A parent’s expectations, a teacher’s harsh words, as well as society’s standards of success and perfection. I heard them all.

• It tells us not to speak up in meetings because we might say the wrong thing.

• It tells us we’re bragging if we celebrate our wins.

• It tells us we’ll never be good enough, no matter how hard we try.

The inner critic is there to save us from judgement, rejection and failure. However, in doing so, it also keeps us small. We may feel comfortable, but comfort is not growth.

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Trust your inner cheerleader instead

Your inner cheerleader will notice your progress, recognise your effort, and believe in your potential. You may not be able to hear it, because the critical voice shouts loudly. But trust that it is there, saying things like:

• You did your best.

• It was hard, but you showed up anyway.

• You don’t need to be perfect, you only need to be you.

When we tune in to this supportive voice, everything changes. We no longer need to seek approval and earn our worth; we know that we are good enough.

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Moving from critic to cheerleader

Here’s a simple exercise to help you hear your inner cheerleader and silence the inner critic.