Softening the Inner Critic

The first seven days

• Day 1Write down the exact words your inner critic used today. Notice its tone.
• Day 2Put your hand on your heart for thirty seconds and say silently, "This is hard right now."
• Day 3Think of something you did imperfectly today and say, "That is what learning looks like."
• Day 4Write one sentence to yourself that you would write to a friend who made the same mistake.
• Day 5Notice when you call yourself a name today and replace it with your actual first name.
• Day 6List three things you did today that were good enough. Not perfect. Good enough.
• Day 7When the critic speaks, ask it: "Whose voice is this really?" Sometimes it is someone from long ago.

Further into the year

The to-dos keep changing as the year goes on. A few from later in this theme:

• Day 30Read back over your notes from this challenge and write one line about how the critic's voice has changed.
• Day 60Recall a compliment you brushed off in the past month and write it down as if it were true.
• Day 120Notice when you minimize a success today with "it was nothing," and correct it to "I worked at that."
• Day 240Write a kind message to a version of yourself from a hard time, and read it as if it were addressed to you now.
• Day 365Recognize one moment today where you were generous with yourself, and let it be a pattern rather than a fluke.

How a challenge works

A Theraglee challenge is a theme with one small to-do for every day of a year. You choose how long yours runs, anywhere from a week to the full year, and each day you get the next to-do: something that takes a few minutes and fits inside an ordinary day. Tick it off when it is done. Nothing is scored and nothing is lost if you miss a day; the next to-do is simply waiting when you come back.

Challenges come with a free Theraglee account, which never asks for a card. Your progress stays private to you.

Challenges like this one

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