In this activity, you will practice disputing the judgments of your Inner Critic and your Inner Defender. As you become more skilled at seeing yourself, other people, and the world more objectively and without distracting judgments, your self-esteem will thrive.
- Write a sentence expressing a recent problem or event that upset you. Think of something troubling that happened in school, at work, in your personal life. For example, I got a 62 on my math test.
- Write a list of three or more criticisms your Inner Critic (IC) might level against you as a result of this situation. Have your Inner Guide (IG) dispute each one immediately. Review the four methods of disputing described on page 65. You only need to use one of them for each criticism. For example,
IC: You failed that math test because you are terrible in math.
IG: It’s true I failed the math test, but I’ll study harder next time and do better. This was only the first test, and I now know what to expect next time.