The Role of Self-Criticism as a Coping Mechanism and Motivator

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Using self-criticism as a coping mechanism can protect against judgment, but it's not a sustainable form of motivation. It can push some people to perform better, but when they fail, it reinforces negative self-perception. Using self-criticism to eliminate negative self-appraisal won't make you love yourself. Stay tuned for two more reasons why we are...

So often in life, we are our own worst enemies. The meanest and loudest voice in our head is our own. So why are we so hard on ourselves? In this episode we break down the psychological underpinnings behind our inner critic, from the proposed evolutionary role of negative self talk, to the influence of our upbringing including the distinction between conditional and unconditional positive regard, parental expectations and childhood bullying. We examine how social comparison and overthinking can contribute to a poor self perception but, also, how we can adopt the methods of radical self compassion and cognitive diffusion to silence that inner voice and be free from self judgement. Listen now!

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Harvard Business Review article: https://hbr.org/2021/05/stop-being-so-hard-on-yourself

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