Your Inner Critic
Identifying and disarming the negative voice that sabotages your progress
In 161 AD, Marcus Aurelius became the most powerful man in the world. He commanded legions, ruled over millions, and had wealth beyond imagination. Yet in his private writings, we find him constantly battling an enemy that no army could defeat: his own inner critic.
Marcus wrote in his Meditations:
"How much trouble he avoids who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does, but only to what he does himself."
Even emperors struggled with that nagging voice inside their head.
The voice that whispers "you're not good enough" when you're about to take on a challenge. The one that replays your mistakes on repeat and convinces you that everyone else has it figured out while you're just pretending. The voice that talks you out of your dreams before you even start pursuing them.
Modern psychology calls it negative self-talk, but the Stoics had a different name for it: false impressions.
They understood something crucial that we often forget: this voice isn't you.
It's a mental habit that can be changed.
The question isn't whether you have this inner critic - we all do. The question is whether you're going to let it run your life or learn to manage it like the Stoics did.
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