Shut Down Your Critic

-

Hey Party People!

Why is it that our minds CONSTANTLY tell us we can’t do something? Our egos, those inner voices, dem tiny little gremlins that constantly creep in and drag us down. We are our own worst critic, we talk ourselves out of everything. WHY?!

I am in the beginnings of my writing journey and I want this to become something real, I want to grow and build an income and a life through writing and sharing and connecting with you. I want to write books and share my experiences and help others change the way they approach life. But every DANG DAY my mind tells me I shouldn’t. My mind tells me that I should just accept what I have. I have an AMAZING life, you guys. I have a phenomenal job, with a great boss and a great income. Job security is not a fear I have. Financial stress is not something I have to live through. I have the ability to travel and live the life I want. So why do I want to change it….

This is what my brain does… it tries to trick me into believing that I am not enough to want more, or that I am ungrateful for the life I have. Truth is, neither of those is true. But I ask myself, or rather my ego asks, “Why would I want something different?  Why would you move away from or seek something different when you are safe, secure, and happy? Why would you even consider giving it up for something else, something else that has no guarantee? A different dream or life that you have no idea if it will give you what you want or desire. Why don’t you just accept and feel grateful for what you have?” These thoughts come through my head on the daily.  

THIS IS WHAT THE MIND DOES. It tricks us into accepting the status quo or makes you feel guilty for wanting something more or scared to try something different. This can also happen if your status quo is shit. If you’re having a shitty time in life right now, watch how you talk yourself into accepting this life. Believing that this is what you deserve or refusing to believe you can change it or make a different choice. For me seeking something different or bigger than what I already have is freaking scary because there is no guarantee it will be better, or different, or what I dream it could be. But there is beauty in not having all the answers and there is possibility in the unknown. Why can’t we just trust…

What I do know is that if I don’t try I would regret it. If I don’t listen to that calling on my heart, the energy that fires me up, the happiness I feel when I write, I am doing not only myself a disservice but the world and so are you if you are staying put, and staying safe. If YOU don’t try and make a change or go after a life you want you will also live with regrets. I don’t generally believe in regrets but I know if I stopped now, if I decided to accept “the good life” I have and not strive for what’s on my heart I would regret not trying. I would regret not believing in myself. I would be freaking pissed at letting my ego win and talk me out of the biggest, clearest, and scariest ideas I have ever had for myself.

It's driving me freaking nuts that every day I have to fight the damn thoughts that creep into my mind that say just stay where you’re at. The biggest temptation of just staying where I am is that it would be easier. Choosing to stay in this space, this life, wouldn’t be bad, it would be quite comfortable I think. But the easy choice isn’t always the right choice. If we always choose the easy way out, the path most traveled, or the future we are taught to strive for, instead of DREAMING into everything we wanted we’re not living up to our full potential. We are just accepting and breeding the status quo. Who wants to be the freaking same as everyone else? So why don’t we Dare to be different, Dare to dream and Dare to believe it is possible.

I am fighting through EVERY dang thought. Every tiny gremlin that pops into my head that says its just easier to stay where I am. I am rallying my own tiny warriors and fighting back. It would be easy to just stay where I’m at, but it's no longer what fires me up, so I am going to try. Who am I to want more, who am I to not?! I am deserving of the life I choose to settle for and I will not settle. I haven’t yet and now that I can see and dream a different life for me, I will not give that up. I sure as shit hope this fires you up to feel the same!

NOT TODAY BERTHA! **

**I learned this little trick at Rachel Hollis’s Rise Live conference in Toronto (days before quarantine hit) to give that little voice in your head a name. The voice that talks you down, that tells you you’re not enough. The tricks goes like this. - Picture the worst human you can imagine, someone that is smelly, and unclean, and is so incredibly rude, that if you heard them saying any of the things you say to yourself to your mom or your best friend you would be stepping in….. oh hell no! you do not talk to my <insert special person here> like that!

Give that voice in your head a name, and when that voice pops up, you’ll be able to recognize that it’s not you talking, it's not your best self, it's that nasty and rude voice that you are no longer going to take crap from moving forward. If you didn’t get it from above, I named my inner nagging voice, Bertha. So when I’m having a time and feeling down, I have to recognize when it’s no longer Sara talking, its Bertha, and I get to dismiss Bertha, any time I damn well please.

NOT TODAY BERTHA, NOT TODAY. Today and everyday I am dreaming and believing in MY BEST LIFE.

AAnnnnd here’s your Party Jam for this week! Don’t let those haters inside your head bring you down!

YouTube >> Haterz – Todrick Hall

Spotify >> Haterz – Todrick Hall

I’m on all the social media channels so look me up and say hi ðŸ˜Š

Instagram: @mssarastepa

Facebook: @SaraStepa

With so much gratitude,

-S

 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I Don't Get An Opinion

-
Hey Party people, Remember  those tiny little gremlins  in our head I wrote about a couple weeks ago. That voice that tries to kill your dreams and feeds your excuses? Well they are wreaking havoc in my mind as I strive to become a better version of myself, and share it with others. I keep saying to myself that what I have to say doesn’t matter. My opinion carries no weight. No one cares what I share. I'm not struggling...so I don’t get an opinion! Its this never-ending loop of these tiny little gremlins that are growing into gargoyles. (Don’t ask where these analogies came from, I really don’t know myself haha). These negative thoughts discourage me and plant seeds of doubt and unworthiness. And its unfair the power these words have on my mindset. Fortunately, or unfortunately, these words only have the power I give them. Do you have tiny little gremlins eating away at you too?   As I go through each day and each week of this pandemic I’ve been trying t
Read more

That Person in the Mirror

-
Hey Party People, When you wake up each morning, who do you see looking back at you? How do you feel about that person and what words do you say to yourself? Are you loving on yourself and see someone who is strong, resilient, and worthy? Or are you a hater and focusing on your flaws and perceived shortcomings. The words we say or think about ourselves matter. Whether this is out loud or in our head what we think is powerful. DYK we think approximately 90,000 thoughts a day, 90,000! Further, of those 90,000 thoughts, approximately 90% of those thoughts are repeats from the day before. Our minds are on repeat, so what are you thinking, saying, and feeing about that person in the mirror everyday. I strive to be positive and to be the best version of myself. But right now I would not say I am my best version but I’m making progress. In complete honesty one of the first things I’ve been saying to myself when I look in the mirror is… “why can’t I freaking sleep, these bags under my ey
Read more

Another Monday…

-
Hey Party People,  Another week, another Monday. We’ve been living in our new normal and upturned realities for 2-3 weeks (it's really hard to count how long its been, I mean is it actually Monday?). Each day when I wake up, I don’t know what I’m going to be feeling. Will I feel positive? Will I feel anxious? Will I feel overwhelmed? Will I feel hope? I don’t know, so I continue to take it one day at a time. As a new week begins we again don’t know what to expect and all of us are feeling a wide spread of emotions. I feel incredibly blessed and grateful that I can still work,   and work safely from the comforts of my home. The Foundation I work for is still operating and “business as usual.” My dad and my brother are still working. My family is fine. But I can't help but think about so many others who are not fine or who are working on the front lines of this crisis (Doctors, nurses, our government). My heart hurts when I think about all the individuals whose liveli
Read more