Your inner critic never shuts up

That relentless voice is exhausting, and the most important thing to understand is that it is not the voice of truth. Three things free you from it. First, a harsh voice is not an honest one — the critic exaggerates, generalizes one failing into your whole worth, and holds you to standards it would spare anyone else; loud is not the same as right. Second, learn where the voice came from, for it is usually an echo of someone else — a parent, a teacher, an old wound — installed long ago, and what was installed can be replaced. Third, answer it with a fair inner voice, the one you would use for a friend you respected, until that truer voice grows strong and the critic quiet. Let us listen to what it actually says, and whose voice it really is.