“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive, and to do so with passion, compassion, humor, and style.” Maya Angelou
Countries worldwide will celebrate International Women’s Day on Monday, March 8. The day not only recognizes the achievements made by women but also brings awareness to the obstacles that still stand in their way.
International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating women’s social, economic, cultural, and political achievements. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender equality. This year’s IWD 2021 theme is #ChooseToChallenge.
We can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. We can all choose to seek out and celebrate women’s achievements. Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world.
From challenge comes change, so let us all choose to challenge. Today is the day to challenge our negative inner voice.
The critical inner voice is an internal enemy that can affect every aspect of our lives, including our self-esteem and confidence, personal and intimate relationships, and performance and accomplishments at school and work. These negative thoughts affect us by undermining our positive feelings about ourselves and others and fostering self-criticism, inwardness, distrust, self-denial, addictions, and a retreat from goal-directed activities.
Have you ever wondered how you developed this internal negative voice? These inner voices usually come from early life experiences that are internalized and taken in as ways we think about ourselves. Often, many of these opposing voices come from our parents or primary caretakers; as children, we pick up on parents’ negative attitudes toward their children and themselves. Our voices can also come from interactions with peers, siblings, or influential adults.
To start questioning your internal negative narrative, you must first realize you HAVE one. You can take power over your critical inner voice. When you become conscious of what it tells you, you can stop it from running your life. The challenge is to identify and flush out this internal covert operation. To do this, be on the lookout for when you slip into a bad mood or become upset. Investigate: What caused the shift? What happened, and, most importantly, what did you start telling yourself after the event? Your mood has shifted from feeling optimistic or relaxed to feeling down or irritable, which is probably a sign that you are interpreting the event through your critical inner voice.
We can begin to change once we have identified the areas in which we limit ourselves. We can do this by taking two actions: not engaging in the self-destructive behavior that is being encouraged by the critical inner voice and increasing the positive behaviors that go against the recommendations of the voice.
How might changing your relationship with your inner critic change your reactions to other situations in your life? If you can conjure up your inner wise person or your inner fair negotiator when going into a disagreement with someone, you are more likely to act in a manner that will bring you more success.
I would LOVE to hear from YOU!
How are you going to challenge the narrative?
How would you like your inner voices to work with you?
