It's admirable to do your best and attempt to be the finest individual you can be. It just makes sense to examine your unfavorable results in life and aim to do better the next time. But it's also very easy to become too self-critical. A high level of self-criticism is destructive to your success and good psychological health. Extreme self-criticism harms your self-esteem and self-confidence.
Think about these signs that you might be too self-critical of yourself:
1. You're paralyzed. One indication that you're extremely critical toward yourself is an absence of action. If you have been stuck in the exact same scenario for a prolonged amount of time, you're too hard on yourself. Otherwise, you 'd be out there working and making positive modifications to your life.
2. You're slow to forgive others. When you can't forgive yourself, you're not able to forgive others. When you can let go and forgive yourself, you can do the same for the other people in your life.
3. You're never pleased with your achievements. It doesn't matter to you that you shaved 10 minutes off your best 10K time or finished medical school. You're bothered by the fact that you didn't win the race or go to Harvard medical school.
4. You're not assertive. You need to fit be comfortable with asserting yourself. Assertiveness likewise brings the threat of rejection. Being too self-critical can increase the worry of rejection from others.
5. You consistently say bad things to yourself. There's little damage in a small percentage of unfavorable self-talk. However a consistent barrage of self-criticism is extremely destructive. Imagine informing your kid that they can't do anything right and should just quit trying. It sounds crazy when seen from that perspective.
6. You're a chronic underachiever. Underachieving is both a symptom and a reason for self-criticism. Constant underachieving is a call to action!
7. Others feel comfortable being critical of you. The typical individual isn't really at ease criticizing others. Nevertheless, after they have heard you criticize yourself consistently, they're likely to feel they can participate in the criticism themselves.
8. You criticize yourself in general terms, rather than just for particular occasions. There's a distinction between informing yourself that you're not a great tennis player and informing yourself that you're bad at everything you do. Generalized criticism is false and highly destructive.
An absence of success at a specific activity does not make you flawed at everything. It's not logical.
9. You keep your opinions to yourself. While you have every reason to avoid informing your next-door neighbor she looks fat in her gown, you should feel comfortable sharing the title of your favorite book. If you don't feel comfortable sharing your opinions easily, you're too worried about being judged by others or saying the wrong thing.
10. You invest too much time focusing on your mistakes. Can you move on quickly after a short period of self-reflection or do you harp on your mistakes for an extended period of time?
11. You find yourself not able to ask for help. It shouldn't be hard to request assistance. In fact, the more help the better! Are you afraid of being deemed incapable? If so, you're too critical of yourself.
You're undermining yourself by being excessively self-critical. You restrict both your success and your state of mind. Understand just how much you damage yourself with self-criticism. Learn from your errors and apply the information with enthusiasm.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Kurt_A_Tasche/254929
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