It’s time to give your inner critic a demotion.

It’s a tragedy I’ve seen played out time and time again. 

A friend or fellow entrepreneur has a brilliant idea. Enthusiasm radiates from them as they excitedly guide me through the processes they’ve created to ensure consistency. They detail how it’s going to help people and the positive ways it will change the world. I get my metaphorical pom- poms out and prepare to cheer on their ascent.

Except… when they talk about their brilliant, energizing, world shifting idea online the magic is obscured behind layers of formality and carefully bland language.

I call this phenomenon “Making Your Inner Critic Your Creative Director.” Grab your favorite cozy beverage and buckle up because the only reasonable response to this phenomenon is a full on rant.

But first, let’s talk about that inner critic.  I know there are a lot of people that will tell you to silence the jerk all together, but I’m not one of them. Being able to foresee criticism and objections and take steps to address them ahead of time is an important part of establishing trustworthiness and authority.

The problem isn’t that the inner critic exists, it’s the way that critic influences your creative output and messaging.

 For one, it tends to focus on converting detractors instead of attracting benefactors (yes, the lyricist in me can’t resist a good rhyme).  You either cast your readership as antagonists or you play it hyper safe and dial down your passion until its an unobtrusive beige. Your ideal customers are either turned off or can’t distinguish you from their minimalist décor.

The other even more insidious result of making your inner critic your creative director is it broadcasts a lack of confidence.  If YOU don’t believe in your work enough to publicly commit to its positive impact why should anyone else? (Obviously within reason. Don’t promise you can give people wings if you’re just a caffeinated soda)

So how do you demote this inner critic and let your genius radiate out instead?

Start by recognizing that asking an internet’s worth of strangers to believe in you is going to feel uncomfortable. 

If you’ve been playing it safe this whole time and it haven’t gotten where you’d like to go it’s because your desired destination is outside your comfort zone. Ultimately, you have to decide the positive impact you KNOW you are capable of is worth more than your continued obscurity.

Then call up a trusted friend and ask them to coffee (make sure they are ok with you recording this conversation).  You want to put yourself in an environment and situation that naturally sparks your creativity and feels relaxed.  Use the voice memos app on your phone and record the way you talk about your next big thing to someone who you know is rooting for you.

Then let that conversation create a kind of baseline for how you talk about what you do.

Finally, if you can afford it hiring a professional writer (LIKE ME!) can put you light years ahead.

A bit like that trusted friend it’s my job to help you clarify your vision and make your passion irresistible to clients.  I just happen to have a thesaurus tab forever open on my browser and years of experience persuading people through text.

Most importantly, your inner critic has no access to my head. He’s blocked on all internal lines.

My focus is firmly and forever on how to delight your ideal customers and ensure they have all the information they need to feel confident choosing you.

At the end of the day your internal critic is trying to help you avoid discomfort – whether that’s the pain of public exposure or a fear of disappointing people. It’s not “bad” but it is unqualified for a creative leadership role. It’s never too late to fire them and put your transformative vision in the pilot’s seat instead.