TURN OFF YOUR INNER CRITIC! By Chris Cade
Do you remember this scene from the movie “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back”?
Han Solo (Harrison Ford) is about to fly into an asteroid field to evade capture by Darth Vadar and company.
“The possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field,” warns the fretting android, C3P0, “is approximately 3,720 to 1.”
“Never tell me the odds,” replies Han Solo.
After surviving the asteroid field Han Solo points his little spaceship in the direction of Darth Vadar’s really, really big spaceship.
“The odds of successfully surviving an attack on an Imperial Star Destroyer are approximately…” ventures C3P0 until Princess Lea tells him to shut up.
Finally, CP30 pleads: “I really don’t see how that is going to help! Surrender is a perfectly acceptable alternative in extreme circumstances!” At which point Lea shuts the robot off.
We are all born with a C3P0 of an Inner Critic babbling away in our head — constantly telling us how the odds are against us and we should just give up.
In order to get anything done you need to bind and gag your Inner Critic. Once it’s out of the way you can start the journey – whether it’s one of self-discovery, of changing old habits, a new career or learning a new language.
But as long as you have a neurotic voice in your head telling you why you can’t do something then you won’t make as much progress as you are truly capable of.
REFLECTION QUESTION:
Are there any self doubts that you are trying to shut off in your life?
OR
Can you share a time when you were able to conquer self doubts in order to accomplish something?