Do you hold yourself back? Ever put something off for far too long, and after you’ve finally done it you think to yourself, “That wasn’t so bad. I should have done it sooner!”?

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the two voices we hear inside ourselves. The first voice you have is the voice of God. The second one is the voice of logic. Today’s Insight is about the second voice, which can rob you of your Greatness, your Dreams, and even your Purpose!

Did you know Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Harrison Ford and even Meryl Streep despise seeing themselves on screen? That’s right! Even acclaimed actors still have a critical voice even after their award-winning talent has been validated by the masses. Mindboggling, isn’t it?

In today’s INSIGHT I share how I caught my critical voice in action and what I did about it [For the rest of the story, please click either the photo or the title.]

I was interviewed last month for an online summit. You may have seen it. I felt really good about my interview on the day of the actual interview, but it didn’t air until 3 weeks later. In the meantime, occasionally a voice in my head would say, “You shouldn’t have worn white. Don’t wear glasses next time. Did you really say anything novel? All the other experts are going to be far superior to you.”

The thoughts were subtle and fleeting, and didn’t seem to make much of an impact, until the day I watched the interview. As I watched it I felt good about it again, just as I had on the day of the filming of interview. I felt even better about it when people began to reach out and tell me how the interview had touched them.

After the interview aired, one day out of nowhere, I had flash of insight about that voice in my head. For three weeks that nagging, critical voice said things to make me doubt myself. Despite knowing that my soul showed up for the interview, and despite knowing that I had delivered what wanted to come through me, the voice of criticism wanted to tell me otherwise.

As I stood there reflecting on what I knew to be true (the interview was good and people were served by it) I suddenly saw the critical voice in a way I had not seen before.

Until that moment the critical voice seemed believable. This time, it was absurd!

Before, I had compared myself to others or to high ideals.

This time, instead of comparing myself, I compared the critical voice.

I compared the critical voice of the ego to the knowing in my soul.

They were worlds apart!

We all have a critical voice. It’s intentions are well meaning. It’s job it to keep you safe. What have I found since I compared the critical voice of ego from the knowing in my soul?

I became BIGGER than the voice of criticism. My Soul got to take charge instead of the critical voice.

Do you relate? I’d love to hear from you ! What stood out to you from what you just read? Please post a note in the comments below!

With abiding love,

LaRue Eppler