Joe Hudson offers a deceptively simple technique: close your eyes, listen to your inner voice, and every time it says something you wouldn’t say to another person — “you should work harder,” “you haven’t done enough,” “you screwed up” — respond out loud: “Ouch, please don’t treat me like that.”
The effect: the voice gets quieter and quieter, receding into the background. What follows is genuine rest — maybe sleep, maybe spaciousness, maybe just peace. And eventually, natural inspiration arises. You don’t push yourself into the next task; you find yourself wanting to do it.
“Every time that voice in your head says something to you that you wouldn’t say to another person, respond out loud, ‘Ouch, please don’t treat me like that.’ Silly, right? But so effective.”
The technique works because it introduces a compassionate witness to the self-abuse. Instead of either believing the critic or trying to argue with it, you simply acknowledge the harm. This is fundamentally different from suppression or positive affirmations — it’s a direct, embodied response to being treated poorly by your own mind.
Related Concepts
- What you really need is rest from your inner critic
- Self-attack during rest prolongs recovery
- Attention alone reduces stress
- Saying ‘ouch’ to the inner critic creates distance from it
- Respond differently to the inner critic as a practice