A shared practice
The Three Core Identities of the Critic
S
Created bySean Fargo
Part 1 of Sean's inner-critic series — recorded in his own voice.
In Sean Fargo’s own voice5 min
Read along — the full script
Welcome to the seven-day series on dealing with the inner critic. My name is Sean Fargo. I teach mindfulness to professional teams around the world. I started practicing mindfulness in China about twelve years ago. Then I ordained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand for two years.
Daily mindfulness practice has really helped me gain a greater sense of self-awareness and clarity, and also the ability for me to tame my inner critic. Over the next seven days, I'm going to teach you some science-proven ways to deal with your inner critic. I'm really looking forward to supporting you on your journey.
The first step to dealing with your inner critic is to address what the inner critic is really trying to, to say. There are usually three core identities that the inner critic is attacking or critiquing, so it's helpful to bring awareness to which of these three core identities your inner critic speaks to. The first is competency.
Am I competent? What does your inner critic say about how competent you are? Second one is whether you're a good person or worthy of care or love. What does your inner critic say about who you are as a person? The third is addressing your acceptability, your likability.
What does your inner critic say about how likable you are? So it's really helpful to bring awareness to these three core identities and which of these your inner critic mostly attacks. First, as we bring more awareness to these identities, it can be helpful to do some journaling, to ask some friends how they see you in terms of how you treat yourself.
But here I'd like you to find a posture that's very relaxed and alert, and either close your eyes or look downward, and invite a sense of full embodiment to feel the weight of gravity as you touch the ground or your chair. And soften your belly. Drop the shoulders.
And invite a sense of alert relaxation as you ask yourself these questions. Am I competent? Am I a good person or worthy of care? Am I acceptable or likable? Again, am I competent? Am I a good person? Am I acceptable? Now, I invite you to see which of these you may have a reaction to and sense which of these your inner critic most identifies with.
This will be really helpful as we move forward with future exercises in the days ahead, as we bring more mindfulness to dealing with the inner critic. I look forward to seeing you here tomorrow on day two of dealing with the inner critic. Take care.
More from Sean Fargo
Make one of your own
This practice was written and narrated with Mindfulness Exercises Pro. Yours takes a few minutes to make.
$0 today · cancel anytime · your work stays yours
Or describe one in the composer — the trial composes it
Just here to listen? You can ask for a practice made for what you’re carrying — a hard week, a racing mind, a night you can’t sleep — and hear it back.
Tell us what you need →Free · no account