How to Silence Your Inner Critic

That nagging voice isn’t telling the truth—here’s how to turn down the volume and keep creating.

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That voice in your head? The one that tells you your work isn’t good enough, your ideas are silly, or that you should just give up and stick to something safer?

Yeah, that’s your inner critic, and it’s a total jerk.

It’s like having an unwanted backseat driver for your entire life—constantly nagging, second-guessing, and making sure you feel just a bit worse about everything. And let’s be real—a creative life is difficult enough without that harsh inner critic constantly doubting you.

This negative voice, or as popular psychology might call it, “the critical inner voice,” can be relentless. It gives you all sorts of negative messages that make you feel like you’ll never take first place at anything you care about. It tries to dominate your inner dialogue, filling your inner life with doubts. But these messages aren’t truth—they’re just a product of self-criticism that’s found a megaphone.

It’s time to put that self critic in its place, so you can get back to creating, living, and being the awesome person you actually are. You can find yourself beyond that negative voice, and when you do, you’ll be free to truly create without the constant heckling.

The 7 types of inner critic

Approaches like Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy suggest that we carry different parts inside us—almost like an internal family—with each part trying to protect us in its own way, even if it’s counterproductive. These 7 types of inner critic are like an annoying committee in your head, each with their own unique way of tearing you down.

Let’s meet the cast:

1. The Perfectionist:
   This critic demands nothing less than absolute perfection. It constantly points out potential flaws, making you terrified of making mistakes. As a result, you get stuck in a cycle of procrastination—if it can’t be flawless, why bother starting?

2. The Inner Controller:
   This one is all about self-discipline, but in the worst way. It judges you harshly for any behavior it deems “out of control.” Whether it’s eating too much, spending too much, or indulging in any kind of excess, the Inner Controller is quick to remind you of how irresponsible and weak you are.

3. The Taskmaster:
   Obsessed with productivity, the Taskmaster is never satisfied. It tells you that you’re lazy if you take a break and convinces you that your worth is tied to how much you get done. Burnout? That’s just a sign you’re not working hard enough. The Taskmaster keeps you in constant hustle mode, convinced that rest is failure.

4. The Underminer:
   This critic’s primary goal is to keep you small and “safe.” It feeds on your fears, making you doubt your skills and convincing you that taking risks is just too dangerous. Want to start a new project or put yourself out there? The Underminer will make you question your abilities until you give up.

5. The Destroyer:
   This is the harshest of them all. The Destroyer attacks your very sense of self, whispering that you’re worthless, unlovable, or destined to fail. It’s the inner critic that cuts the deepest, chipping away at your confidence and leaving you feeling powerless. The Destroyer is relentless, always finding ways to tear you down.

6. The Guilt Tripper:
   This critic loves to dwell on the past. It replays every mistake, reminding you of all the times you fell short or hurt someone. It’s always there to make you feel bad, holding you accountable for things you’ve long since tried to move past. The Guilt Tripper keeps you trapped in regret, making it hard to move forward.

7. The Conformist:
   The Conformist wants you to fit in and follow the rules. It makes you afraid to stand out, pushing you to blend in with everyone else, even when that means ignoring your own dreams and values. It tells you that if you don’t conform, you’ll be judged or rejected, which keeps you from taking the risks that might lead to true fulfillment.

How to overcome your inner critic

“The critical inner voice is formed out of painful early life experiences in which we witnessed or experienced hurtful attitudes toward us or those close to us,” writes Lisa Firestone in Psychalive. “As we grow up, we unconsciously adopt and integrate this pattern of destructive thoughts toward ourselves and others. When we fail to identify and separate from this inner critic, we allow it to impact our behavior and shape the direction of our lives.”

Overcoming your inner critic, or critical inner voice, as psychologist and author Robert Firestone calls it, is all about recognizing it for what it is—a collection of negative thoughts, not truths. These critics might be loud, but they’re not invincible.

Here are some practical ways to quiet those voices and take back control of your creative freedom.

1. Listen to what the voice is actually saying

The first step to overcoming your inner critic is to really listen to what it’s saying.

Not just the surface-level insults, but the deeper message behind them.

Is it telling you that you’re going to make mistakes you can’t recover from, or that trying something new will lead to failure?

Understanding the specific fears and doubts coming from your inner critic helps you realize that these are just thoughts, not facts. By naming what the critic is actually saying, you take away some of its power—it’s easier to confront a clear enemy than a vague, nagging feeling.

Paul Gilbert, a clinical psychologist and the co-founder of the Compassionate Mind Foundation, told The Guardian that compassion is best understood as turning towards suffering, whether it is in yourself or others, and taking action to alleviate it. Instead of looking for fleeting ways to feel better, self-compassion is a readiness to engage with pain at its source. Gilbert suggests that the aim is to be able to treat yourself the way a doctor would: not only taking your suffering seriously but also helping to relieve it.

Instead of just letting your inner critic run the show, practice listening with self-compassion. Try to understand where this inner voice is coming from and what it’s really trying to protect you from. Once you understand, you can respond in a way that’s genuinely helpful, rather than simply accepting the negative messages as truth.

2. Understand that the voice may not be you

Your critical inner voice may not actually be yours. Often, that negative self-talk you hear didn’t start with you—it’s an echo of early life experiences, like things said by a family member or shaped by difficult situations. The voice might have originally come from someone else entirely, and over time, it found a home in your head, attaching itself to your self-image and insecurities.

Remember: this voice is a part of you, but it doesn’t define you.

That critical superego formed to protect you from the pain of rejection or failure. But that doesn’t mean it’s right.

Recognizing that your inner critic may not be truly yours helps you see it with more compassion. You can start to understand where this voice came from—maybe from a family member, intimate relationships, or a situation that led to low self-esteem.

By realizing that your insecurities and negative self-talk are just echoes of the past, you can begin to distance yourself from that negativity and respond to it with a kinder perspective.

3. Learn to catch the inner talk and change it

The key to overcoming your inner critic lies in catching that negative inner talk before it takes over.

In Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), a popular approach in mental health and psychotherapy, this process is all about recognizing negative thoughts as they arise and then challenging them. A clinical psychologist or psychotherapist might help you identify those recurring thought patterns and teach you how to reframe them—turning “I’m not good enough” into something more realistic and kind, like “I’m learning, and that’s enough.”

This practice doesn’t mean ignoring or suppressing negative thoughts; instead, it’s about transforming them. Catch that inner dialogue when it starts going down a familiar, self-destructive path, and deliberately change the story.

Many mental health professionals emphasize the importance of self-compassion in this process. By treating yourself with the kindness you’d offer a friend, you can slowly shift that harsh inner voice into something more supportive. You could also dive into a helpful podcast or two—many cover strategies for shifting negative self-talk, offering a fresh perspective from experts and relatable experiences.

Learning to catch your inner critic isn’t always easy, but it’s one of the most powerful skills you can develop for your mental well-being. It’s about retraining your brain to stop automatically siding with that harsh voice and start building a new, more compassionate narrative.

As New York Times bestselling author Michael A. Singer writes in his book The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself, “There is nothing more important to true growth than realizing that you are not the voice of the mind—you are the one who hears it.”

4. Embrace mindful practices

The outside is what you think, the things you tell yourself on a conscious level—“I’m good enough,” “I can do this.”

But the inside is what you truly believe, and the inside always wins.

No matter what you do on the outside, those deep-down beliefs have the final say. Sometimes, you don’t even realize what the inside is thinking, which makes it even trickier to change.

So how do you change it?

One of the best ways I’ve found is through hypnotherapy, which helps you access those subconscious beliefs and reshape them.

The second is journaling—writing allows you to get those thoughts out in the open and see them for what they are. Practices like “morning pages,” where you free-write first thing in the morning, are great tools for uncovering hidden thoughts and starting to reshape them.

Both journaling and hypnotherapy help reaffirm your identity by turning the spotlight on those underlying thought processes and challenging them directly.

Mindfulness practices, including guided meditations, can help you become more aware of your inner thoughts without getting lost in them. They allow you to step back, observe the critical inner voice, and understand that those nagging thoughts aren’t necessarily true. By regularly practicing mindfulness, you can begin to conquer your critical inner voice, transforming it into something more compassionate.

Affirmations can also be powerful. At first, they might feel awkward or even false, but over time, repeating positive statements about yourself helps rewire your brain. Even if you don’t fully believe it in the beginning, you’re slowly patterning these thoughts into your subconscious, nurturing your self-worth.

5. Understand what your inner critic is trying to protect you from

Your inner critic can seem like a foe, but it’s actually a friend. When your inner critic is offering self-critical thoughts, it’s actually trying to protect you.

Remember: when you’re self sabotaging or bring a perfectionist, you’re trying to protect yourself.

What from?

When you can answer that question, the solution will become immediately clear.

For example, I once had a coaching client who kept sabotaging her own success. Despite being full of self-confidence, well-versed in self-help books, and having a solid understanding of her own self-destructive behaviors, she found herself undermining her progress every time she got close to succeeding.

As we dug into it, the answer surfaced: her inner critic was trying to protect her from the punishment of success.

Growing up, authority figures and caregivers had reacted negatively when she stood out or succeeded—they punished her for shining too brightly. Those experiences left a mark on her nervous system, and now, every time she approached success, her inner critic would kick in, trying to shield her from experiencing that same pain again.

By understanding this, she was able to see her inner critic in a different light—not as a villain, but as a misguided protector. With this realization, the process of healing and change could truly begin.

Lisa Firestone, writing in Psychology Today, suggests that to better understand these self-attacks, it’s helpful to articulate them in the second person, as “you” statements. For instance, instead of saying “I feel so lazy and useless,” a person would say, “You are so lazy. You’re useless.” This format, used in voice therapy, helps reveal the hostility and fear underlying the self-attacking system. It allows you to access what your inner critic is truly trying to accomplish—protection, not punishment.

Once you understand what your inner critic is really trying to shield you from, you can work on healing the underlying wounds. It stops being just a critical voice in your head and becomes something you can understand, engage with, and ultimately transform.

6. Allow yourself acceptance and compassion

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) offers a different approach to dealing with the inner critic. Instead of trying to fight or change our negative thoughts and beliefs, ACT encourages us to accept them and then let them go.

It’s about understanding that we have far less control over our thoughts and feelings than we like to think—sometimes, trying to control them only makes them stronger. Instead, acceptance helps loosen the grip that those negative voices have on us.

There may be things about yourself you want to change, and that’s valid. But often, we frame that conversation with shame instead of gentle improvement, which keeps us stuck in negativity.

Next time you hear that critical voice, pause and ask, “Is this objectively true?” Often, those negative thoughts crumble under honest questioning.

Self-acceptance doesn’t mean loving every part of yourself, but it does mean treating yourself with compassion.

Approach your flaws like a caring friend would—with understanding, not judgment. Compassion disarms your inner critic, replacing harshness with genuine care, and is a key part of self-care and mental well-being.

7. Change the tone of the voice

One of the best ways to deflate your inner critic is to change its tone. Make it sound silly, whiny, or like a squeaky cartoon character.

I love doing this because when that voice of self-doubt takes on a ridiculous tone, it sounds completely idiotic—and far less threatening.

This simple trick can help take the sharpness away, making it easier to dismiss those negative thoughts.

This is a tactic recommended by many mental health experts, because once your critic sounds less like a bully and more like an annoying pest, it loses its power over you.

8. Make a list of things you love about yourself, and read it

It might feel cheesy at first, but making a list of things you genuinely love about yourself is a powerful way to counteract your inner critic.

Write down qualities, accomplishments, strengths—anything that makes you feel good. Whether it’s your sense of humor, your compassion for others, or even something as simple as your ability to make a great cup of coffee, put it on the list.

When your inner critic gets loud, take a moment to read that list.

Remind yourself of what makes you unique and valuable. It’s easy to get caught up in the negative voices, but this list is your reminder of the truth about who you are.

Keep it somewhere handy—tucked in a notebook, saved in your phone, or pinned on your mirror. By actively reminding yourself of your worth, you help rewire your mind to focus on self-love rather than self-doubt.

9. Learn to like, not love, yourself

We’re often told to love ourselves unconditionally, and sure, that sounds wonderful—but it can also feel unrealistic. Liking yourself, however, is a practical and genuine goal. When you aim to like yourself, you’re basing it on qualities you truly appreciate about yourself, things that resonate with who you are.

Liking yourself means recognizing the things you do well, the parts of your personality that make you proud, and the aspects of yourself that bring joy to your life. It’s less about forcing unconditional love and more about developing a friendship with yourself, built on real admiration.

Over time, genuinely liking yourself can form the foundation for deeper self love, but it starts with appreciating who you are right now. It’s a lot easier to get along with yourself when you actually like the person you’re spending time with.