The stories that you tell yourself come from two places – your ego and your inner critic. In this blog, we will chat about your inner critic.

Your inner critic exists in your internal world and works to erode your self-confidence. Your inner critic is the part of your personality that tells you that you are not good enough, do not deserve something you received, or could have handled a situation better. Your inner critic thrives on questions like “What’s wrong with me?” or conclusions like “What an idiot!” The rallying cry of your inner critic is “It’s not them, it’s me!” Here are some workplace examples of inner critic stories that may sound familiar:

A hiring manager never calls you back after an interview.
– Your story – “I bet they found a better candidate. I must have interviewed horribly!”

You send an email to a colleague to follow-up on two previous outreaches that went unanswered.
– Your story – “Did something I write offend him?”

You do not join an industry association group.
– Your story – “I hate going to these meetings. I never know anyone.”

Do these inner critic stories sound familiar? Do you see yourself thinking these stories or stories like them? Do you have a sense of how frequently your inner critic corrodes your self-confidence?

The stories that you tell yourself come from two places – your ego and your inner critic. In this blog, we will chat about your ego.

Your ego exists primarily in the external world and acts like a shield to protect your need for status, self-worth, and contribution. If something happens in the external world that attacks these needs, you create an explanation for the attack, typically due to something other than yourself. The rallying cry of your ego is “It’s not me, it’s them!” Here are some workplace examples of ego-based stories that may seem familiar:

You hear that a colleague, Pat, for whom you have little respect, gets promoted to a new role.

Your story – “I can’t believe they promoted Pat. Everyone knows he only got the job because he is such a brown-noser. ”
An all-employee meeting has been scheduled.

Your story – “I don’t have time for this. They are not going to talk about anything important anyway.”
You do not submit an article for your organization’s e-newsletter.

Your story – “What’s the point? No one reads this stuff.”