How To Overcome Self Criticism

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Being judgmental and criticizing about almost anything and everything is a human mentality. Most of the people generally tend to have an opinion about everything under the sun be it right or wrong and do not hesitate to express their feelings. However, criticism in any forms; be it criticizing others or self is harmful and ruins the very foundation of love and trust. Self-criticism can lower your self-esteem and make you feel unhappy about yourself. That is why, if you want to live a happy life and accomplish whatever you deserve, you need to overcome self-criticism.

Often self-criticism is an assumption of other people opinion about one self. People generally seek validation from others to feel good and the worse part of it is that most of the people fear in advance before others say negative things about them. Self-criticism sucks and can prohibit you from experiencing the beauty of life that is meant for life by doing things that are worthwhile and growing. Here are some of ways that you would find it useful to overcome self-criticism and move forward in life:

AVOID PERFECTIONISM

To overcome self-criticism, you need to stop desiring perfection in everything you do. There is nothing wrong in setting high standards for yourself, but seeking perfection in everything you do can halt your progress in life and that in turn make you vulnerable to self-criticism. Always keep in mind that, as a human being you are by nature not perfect just like the others. Mistakes are bound to happen and you have to keep yourself alert and be open to improve in order to move on.

HAVE A REALISTIC GOAL

Having a realistic goal and well planned way with fixed time-frame to realize it is essential to overcome self-criticism. You cannot become successful overnight, so expecting it will bring extra pressure on you and make you vulnerable to self-criticism. Your obsession to realize your goal overnight will not be beneficial to you and make you prone to guilt feelings. Your goal gives direction, but you need to focus on the steps that take you closer to your goal. So have a realistic goal and always keep in mind that you need to give your goal desired time and effort it deserve.

FOCUS ON POSITIVITY

Life is full of positivity and negativity and if you keep on focusing on the negative aspects of life, you tend to be self-critical. On the other hand, if you keep your focus on the positive aspects of life, you get motivated to improve yourself and face the challenges of life boldly. Keep in mind that life is interesting because it is not a perfect run; it is trial and error, full of ups and downs. Forgive yourself for the mistakes and keep your focus on the positive aspects of life to move on.

IMPROVE SELF AWARENESS

The best way to overcome self-criticism is self-awareness. The root cause of self-criticism is lack of self-awareness and because of that we seek validation from others to have a sense of feeling good. Validation up to a certain point from the concerned person is good and it also improves your level of confidence, but the problems only start when you expect validation from almost everyone to feel better and appreciated. The biggest drawback of seeking validation from others is that when you do not get it from others, you start to criticize yourself. You empower others to make you feel happy. So improve your self-awareness to overcome self-criticism.

Hence, as long as your self-criticism is constructive and helps you to learn from your past mistake and move forward in life, you do not need to worry about it, but the moment it starts to halt your progress; you should address it on the priority basis. To be successful in life, you need to continue picking yourself up from numerous mistakes instead of getting indulged in self-criticism. Always remember that it is okay to try, make mistakes, and fail because at least it gives you chance to succeed. So if you want to get success in life and make worthwhile to live, you should make an effort to overcome self-criticism which tends to halt your life.

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