Latest / Overwhelmed Working Woman: Boost Productivity, Master Time Management, Overcome Overwhelm & Stop People Pleasing / #294| Five Scripts To Shut Down Negative Self Talk and Protect Productivity
Transcript
- 0:00Michelle Gauthier: When you listen today, you'll learn five scripts for silencing your inner critic before it kills your confidence and productivity.
- 0:07Michelle Gauthier: You're listening to Overwhelmed Working Woman, the podcast that helps you be more calm and more productive by doing less.
- 0:19Michelle Gauthier: I'm your host, Michelle Gauthier, a former Overwhelmed Working Woman and current life coach.
- 0:24Michelle Gauthier: On this show, we unpack the stress and pressure that today's Working Woman experiences.
- 0:29Michelle Gauthier: And in each episode, you'll get a strategy to bring more calm, ease, and relaxation to your life.
- 0:36Michelle Gauthier: Hi, friend.
- 0:39Michelle Gauthier: Thanks for joining today.
- 0:40Michelle Gauthier: If you've been listening for a while, you may have heard my advice to give that negative voice in your head a name.
- 0:46Michelle Gauthier: For some reason, calling it Dolores or Wanda just seems to reiterate that the voice is not you.
- 0:51Michelle Gauthier: Like, oh, Dolores is telling me that I really should have gotten more done this week.
- 0:56Michelle Gauthier: And this week I saw a hilarious and brilliant Instagram post.
- 0:59Michelle Gauthier: I wish I could remember who, so I could give her credit, but the person who posted it had named her mean inner critic voice a man's name.
- 1:07Michelle Gauthier: Specifically Chad.
- 1:08Michelle Gauthier: Suck it, Chad, is what she would say back to her inner critic voice.
- 1:12Michelle Gauthier: I love this.
- 1:13Michelle Gauthier: It absolutely cracked me up.
- 1:14Michelle Gauthier: And we all know if you have an inner Chad or whatever you want to name your inner critic that Chad's loud, Chad's rude.
- 1:21Michelle Gauthier: Chad has been running the show for way longer than you realized.
- 1:24Michelle Gauthier: So today we're gonna take away Chad's microphone.
- 1:27Michelle Gauthier: We're not gonna argue with him.
- 1:28Michelle Gauthier: We're not gonna prove him wrong.
- 1:29Michelle Gauthier: We're just gonna give him a name and a shrug and open the door to let him out.
- 1:34Michelle Gauthier: And by the end of this episode, you'll have five actual scripts that you can use the next time Chad or whatever your inner critic's name is decides to chime in.
- 1:43Michelle Gauthier: When you listen today, you'll learn why arguing back with your inner critic actually keeps you stuck.
- 1:48Michelle Gauthier: A naming trick that creates instant distance from a thought that used to flatten you, and five scripts that you can start using today in order to or silence that inner critic.
- 1:58Michelle Gauthier: I think it's human nature if you're going to talk back to your inner critic to argue with a thought or prove it wrong or build a whole case for the defense.
- 2:07Michelle Gauthier: And here's why I don't love that, because arguing with a thought means you're still having a conversation with it.
- 2:12Michelle Gauthier: You're giving it a seat at the table and letting it have a chance to speak.
- 2:15Michelle Gauthier: Here's what I think works better.
- 2:17Michelle Gauthier: Give the voice a name, whether it's Dolores or Wanda or my new favorite Chad, the name doesn't matter.
- 2:23Michelle Gauthier: Whatever name really speaks to you.
- 2:25Michelle Gauthier: And the next time that voice pipes up, you don't argue or defend yourself.
- 2:28Michelle Gauthier: You just go, thanks for your input, Chad.
- 2:31Michelle Gauthier: Not up for your advice today, and you move on.
- 2:33Michelle Gauthier: Envision someone in your actual life, maybe someone who you work with or someone you have known over the years, whose advice you just simply wouldn't listen to.
- 2:41Michelle Gauthier: Someone whose advice you don't want or need.
- 2:44Michelle Gauthier: Just imagine if they came up to you and told you to do something.
- 2:46Michelle Gauthier: You'd just be like, nah, I'm not doing that.
- 2:49Michelle Gauthier: You don't have to give it any energy or any debate.
- 2:51Michelle Gauthier: I had a client whose self-talk was so loud that it was almost debilitating.
- 2:56Michelle Gauthier: First of all, every client I work with has some form of negative self-talk or self-criticism.
- 3:01Michelle Gauthier: This is human nature.
- 3:02Michelle Gauthier: If you feel like you're alone in this, you absolutely are not.
- 3:04Michelle Gauthier: Hers was so loud it was almost debilitating because she would have a thought like, You suck at this, why are you such a loser?
- 3:11Michelle Gauthier: Why can't you do what other people do?
- 3:13Michelle Gauthier: Terrible things that she would never say to anyone else.
- 3:16Michelle Gauthier: And when that happened, her shoulders would actually slump and she felt like she was just defeated before her day even started sometimes.
- 3:23Michelle Gauthier: And the shift happened during her coaching when she learned to notice that shoulder slump and notice the thought without judging it and then switching it quickly.
- 3:32Michelle Gauthier: So no arguing, no spiraling about why she thinks it's that way, just notice, name it, and switch it out.
- 3:38Michelle Gauthier: And now it's quick and it's no big deal.
- 3:40Michelle Gauthier: And hers is not named Chad, but she can even laugh at the Chad comments that her brain offers her at this point.
- 3:47Michelle Gauthier: Same brain, same thoughts showing up, but they're just not a problem anymore because she can completely let them go.
- 3:54Michelle Gauthier: So if you are struggling with this, number one, give your inner critic a name.
- 3:58Michelle Gauthier: I think personally that it's very useful to come up with a name that kind of makes you chuckle because then it takes you out of the moment.
- 4:03Michelle Gauthier: Here are five sentences that you can steal starting today.
- 4:08Michelle Gauthier: I want you to listen to these five.
- 4:09Michelle Gauthier: I'm just gonna say the name of the inner critic within the thoughts, see which one sticks with you the most that really sticks out to you, and seriously write it down.
- 4:18Michelle Gauthier: Put it in your notes, in your notes app, email it to yourself, write it on a post-it.
- 4:22Michelle Gauthier: And next time you notice that shoulder slumping feeling when your inner critic has gotten loud, just try one of these thoughts.
- 4:28Michelle Gauthier: Number one, oh Chad, I think you forgot.
- 4:31Michelle Gauthier: Your opinion means nothing to me.
- 4:33Michelle Gauthier: Oh look, Gladys is back.
- 4:35Michelle Gauthier: That's so cute.
- 4:35Michelle Gauthier: Moving on.
- 4:36Michelle Gauthier: Steve, I'm really busy thinking about how I can solve this, so I'm gonna go ahead and mute you now.
- 4:41Michelle Gauthier: Not now, Brenda.
- 4:43Michelle Gauthier: I'm busy solving this, not spiraling about it.
- 4:45Michelle Gauthier: Reginald, you're loud, but you're not the boss of me.
- 4:49Michelle Gauthier: You don't even need to use all five.
- 4:51Michelle Gauthier: Just pick the one that feels most like you.
- 4:52Michelle Gauthier: Start using it with whatever name you give your inner critic, and next time you catch that voice showing up, give it a try.
- 4:59Michelle Gauthier: I promise you, if it can make you laugh and remind you that you don't care about that person's opinion, you will be able to much more quickly move on.
- 5:07Michelle Gauthier: In summary, you don't really have to win an argument with your own brain.
- 5:10Michelle Gauthier: Just notice the thought, don't give it any air, swap it out, and keep moving.
- 5:15Michelle Gauthier: That is the skill.
- 5:16Michelle Gauthier: If this is something that you find yourself suffering from a lot, this negative self-talk inner critic situation, reach out to me.
- 5:23Michelle Gauthier: I can help you in my one-on-one coaching.
- 5:26Michelle Gauthier: This is something that I help all of my clients with.
- 5:29Michelle Gauthier: And when you can get rid of this negative self-talk, you can save so much time, have such better productivity, and better confidence too.
- 5:36Michelle Gauthier: There's a link in the show notes to book a free discovery session.
- 5:39Michelle Gauthier: I would love to help you get rid of or turn down the volume on your inner chad.
- 5:45Michelle Gauthier: Thank you for listening to the Overwhelmed Working Woman podcast.
- 5:52Michelle Gauthier: If you want to learn more about my work, head over to my website at MichelleGauthier.com.
- 5:58Michelle Gauthier: See you next week.