Better Days: Tame Your Inner Critic

Young children often receive space and time to be curious, to inquire, to explore and enjoy unstructured time. According to spiritual coach Allen, this comes to a crashing end in first grade, when children are forced to sit for several minutes at a time without much movement, learning how to read. Allen opines that this forced rigid socialization is a parasite, which Freud called the superego, also referred to as conscience. Its purpose is to keep people in line and to keep them safe, but Allen argues that it creates a belittling voice inside us that keeps us small and afraid. This voice, the inner critic, calls one names such as like “fraud,” “idiot,” or “loser.” Allen regards it as each person’s own relentless buzzkill. He immobilized his inner critic and found freedom, peace of mind, and satisfaction in life. He reflected on and derived three questions that led to his liberation, outlining steps readers can take that will afford them what he has.