A shared practice
Feeling Competent
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Created bySean Fargo
Part 2 of Sean's inner-critic series — recorded in his own voice.
In Sean Fargo’s own voice5 min
Read along — the full script
Welcome back. We're now on day two of dealing with the inner critic. I'm Sean Fargo. In the last exercise, we looked at three internal core identities that our inner critic tends to harshly attack or critique. First one is, am I competent?
Of course, our inner critic tends to say, "No, I'm not competent," or, "I don't know what I'm doing," or, "Why did I do that? I always do the wrong thing." So what does your inner critic really say about how competent you are? It can be really helpful to bring awareness to this in the different situations that occur throughout the day.
Are you incompetent in all things according to the inner critic or just certain things? Are you completely incompetent or just not as perfect as you want to be or feel that you need to be? So looking at the various ways that our inner critic tends to harshly attack us with in terms of competency, seeing whether you hold yourself to an absolute or a nothing standard.
So it can be really helpful to practice a mindfulness exercise around looking at our inner critic in terms of competency. So I invite you to find a posture that feels both relaxed and alert. It can be standing or sitting or lying down.
You can have your eyes closed or open or gazed downward, whatever feels comfortable for you. It can be helpful to soften the belly, loosen the muscles in the face and the jaw, to drop the shoulders, and feel your body as it touches the ground or the chair. Bringing awareness to your breath as you breathe in and out.
And chances are, after several seconds, your mind will wander. And notice whether your inner critic comes out to play. Is there a critique around a distracted mind? And what does your inner critic say about how competent you are at mindfulness, of being present with your moment-to-moment experience?
Do you hold yourself to a high standard? What impact does that have on you, in your body and in your mind? Acknowledging, "I will make mistakes, and that's okay. Everyone makes mistakes." And I invite you throughout the day to bring kind awareness to this issue of competency.
I look forward to being with you here again tomorrow for our next session on day three of dealing with the inner critic.
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