Stop Criticizing Yourself

December 16, 2010 by  
Filed under BEST POSTS, Life Mastery

Stop Criticizing Yourself

Has someone has ever caused you emotional pain with careless, mean or sarcastic remarks? What follows are some practical ideas to avoid that sort of pain in the future – and to also make sure that “someone” is not your own self.

Of course criticism can be a positive thing at times – and we must be able process this kind of feedback if we want to progress in our lives. Without some form of feedback it would be hard to improve our performance or behaviors.

But criticism can also inflict pain! It can cut very deep – and even stay with us for our lifetime. Depending upon how well you handle it, criticism has the potential to put serious limits on your life – OR to take you forward into higher levels of personal performance.

Sorting it Out
Let’s start with a sorting technique to separate the facts from the opinions. A fact is something that is somehow provable and can be shown to be true. An opinion is an idea, or someone’s personal interpretation of something. Look at your dog, for example. If you were to say,” That’s a beautiful dog,” it would be an opinion.

The underlying fact it that it’s a dog. Your neighbor might think your dog is ordinary looking, or even ugly. One judgment (It’s a dog) is objective, and the other (It’s a beautiful dog) is subjective.

Many times people will state their opinions as fact – while what they are expressing is only their opinion.

I saw someone step on a scale on a TV program and weigh in at 450 pounds. I was alarmed, but he beamed with joy. I had automatically judged him to be seriously overweight. But he revealed that he had lost almost 400 pounds. Wow! My opinion was just that – and his judgment was quite different!

if someone calls you a “couch potato” (the term could be a lot more painful), you should decide for yourself if this is a fact or an opinion. Check out how you look. Do you look or act like a “couch potato?” No? Then this is just someone’s opinion.

The Question

Here’s the really important question! Just whose opinion of you is the most important?

There are periods in life when other peoples’ opinions of us are more important than our own opinion. This especially occurs during our sensitive teenage years. Since we are beginning to take our place as a young man or woman, the opinions of our peer’s often have a huge impact.

Actually that is a natural part of becoming “socialized.” But it’s one we do want to grow beyond as we become adults. Sooner or later we have to make a serious decision to have OUR OWN opinion of ourselves be the most important opinion.

What’s Your Frame of Reference
The best way to correct any tendency to judge yourself poorly is to learn to choose your ‘frame of reference’. A ‘frame of reference’ is the criteria by which we judge something, or determine if it is valid.

There are two possible frames of reference: internal and external. Here’s how to understand the two:

Suppose you have completed a task at work. How do you know you’ve done it well? Does your direct supervisor tell you “Great job!”– or do you just know without anyone saying so? The first “frame of reference” is external, and the second is internal.

Actually neither frame of reference is better than the other – both can have their own importance.

For example, when learning something new, an external frame of reference is very useful. It’s otherwise difficult to learn anything other than what you already know. That’s why the learning experience is based on external feedback … until we have enough experience to decide for ourselves what’s working.

An internal frame of reference has YOU deciding what’s good, bad, or otherwise.

If you have an internal “feeling” that you’re using to judge yourself, this is an internal frame of reference. If you know what you’re doing, that’s probably appropriate. But if you’re doing something totally new, you may still benefit from some external feedback.

Dealing Positively With Opinions

When you are thinking about your self and how you’re regarded, it’s beneficial to create some solid, positive internal frames of reference.

People with healthy self-esteem operate from a positive internal frame of reference in regard to their personal worth. People with weaker self-esteem operate from an external frame of reference – and are more likely to listen to other people’s opinions of their worth. And in some cases – they actually allow others to totally decide their worth. This is does not lead to a positive life experience!

So can you change this? Here are few simple suggestions:

  • Start by paying attention to what you say to yourself about your own self. If you hear negative self talk YOU are creating a negative internal frame of reference.
  • Begin to correct this by paying more attention to the things you appreciate about yourself.
  • Put more focus on what you do well, and realize that none of us are perfect in all aspects of our lives.
  • Be a little kinder and forgiving of yourself and others.
  • Forget past pain and judgments, and stop re-creating them by bringing them into the present moment.
  • Take a course, read a book, or attend a seminar on personal empowerment or self-esteem.

posted by Jill Ammon-Wexler
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Why Emotional Pain Hurts

emotional painEver wonder…

 why you feel emotional pain in your chest when  your feelings have been hurt?

Terms like “heartache” and “gut wrenching” are not just metaphors — they describe both physical and emotional pain.

If you feel heartache, for example, what you are experiencing is emotional stress and the resulting stress-induced sensations in your chest — muscle tightness, an increased heart rate, uncomfortable stomach activity, and shortness of breath.

Physical & emotional pain are connected

You may be a bit surprised to learn that emotional pain triggers the exact brain regions that physical pain lights up.

How do emotions trigger physical sensations? A 2009 study conducted at the University of Arizona and the University of Maryland found that activity in a brain region that regulates emotional reactions (the anterior cingulate cortex) helps explain how an emotional insult can trigger a biological cascade.

During a stressful experience your brain’s anterior cingulate cortex increases the activity of your Vagus nerve. This huge nerve is the pathway connecting your brain stem to your neck, chest and abdomen.

When this nerve is over stimulated, it can cause pain, abdominal “butterflies,” and even nausea.

Heartache is not the only way emotional pain and physical pain intersect in our brain.

Other studies show that even feeling emotional pain on behalf of another person — that is, having empathy for that person — can also influence your pain perception. And this effect is NOT limited to humans. A recent paper published in Science Magazine revealed that when a mouse sees its cage mate in agony, that mouse’s sensitivity to physical pain increases. But when it comes into close contact with a friendly, unharmed mouse, its sensitivity to pain is reduced. 

A recent brain scan study of humans supported the finding in mice — showing that simple acts of social kindness, such as holding hands, can blunt the brain’s response to threats of physical pain, and thus actually lessen the pain.

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Posted by Jill Ammon-Wexler
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