Notebook #2: What if the voice in your head isn't telling the truth?

Have you ever noticed how kind we can be to other people and how incredibly hard we can be on ourselves?

We celebrate a friend's success without hesitation, yet when something goes well for us we explain it away.

"I was just lucky."

"It wasn't that difficult."

"Anyone could have done it."

That inner voice can be remarkably convincing.

The trouble is, just because we think something doesn't make it true.

Over the years I've worked with many people who, from the outside, seem confident and successful. Yet behind closed doors they quietly wonder whether they're good enough, whether someone will discover they don't really know what they're doing or whether everyone else has somehow figured life out better than they have.

Here's the thing I've noticed.

That voice gets louder when we're tired, stressed or overwhelmed.

It also gets quieter when we start talking about it.

Coaching doesn't silence that inner critic overnight, but it does create a space where we can become curious about it.

Where did it come from?

Is it helping?

Would we ever speak to someone we care about in the same way?

Sometimes the most important conversation we have isn't with somebody else.

It's the one we have with ourselves.

A question to leave with you...

If that critical voice wasn't there, what might you do differently?