Let’s start with a lovely poem by Shel Silverstein 

 

The Voice

 

There is a voice inside of you

That whispers all day long,

"I feel this is right for me,

I know that this is wrong."

No teacher, preacher, parent, friend

Or wise man can decide

What's right for you--just listen to

The voice that speaks inside.” 

 

I was chatting to one of our developing coaches recently and we got onto the subject of the inner voice and how we can make our thinking more positive by taking control of our thoughts.  

 

We discussed how we are one system and that the mind and body is connected and it got me thinking about what the inner voice actually is. We know that it is an internal monologue, or a verbal stream of consciousness.  In other words, it is thinking in words. It also refers to the semi-constant internal monologue some people have with themselves at a conscious or semi-conscious level, or even at times a speech rehearsal.

 

The inner voice can also become the inner critic and can lead to feelings of guilt, shame, low self-esteem, and depression. It may also cause self-doubt and undermine self-confidence. In coaching we constantly see the debilitating results when people have such a harsh inner critic, telling themselves things they would never say to anyone else.

 

So how do we deal with this inner critic?  Well the good news is that we can change it!  Just like a radio we can turn the volume up or down, and change to a different channel that we like better. Many of the people I have coached in the past didn’t realise they could change what the inner critic was saying, and one person had even confessed they thought they were going mad listening to the awful things their inner voice was saying to them.

 

The good news is that we have some options of how to deal with it.  We could treat it like it is our enemy and fight against it, or ignore it, or we could befriend our inner voice instead and get it on our side.  This would be my preferred approach to help people become more resourceful, positive and happier. 

 

To get started on changing the inner critic to inner friend we can begin to challenge some of the critical comments that we hear and change them to a more positive ones until we have re-trained our inner voice to become a friend who supports us.

 

And because we are all one system of mind and body, working together as one will give us the best chance of achieving all the goals we want to have for a better life.  

 

Some good links for you! 

 

http://www.psychalive.org/critical-inner-voice/

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/inner-voice

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_monologue

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_critic

 

Jane xx