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10.4. Silencing the Inner Critic

How To Invent (Almost) Anything > 10. Getting Past the Blocks > 10.4. Silencing the Inner Critic

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Many of the blocks we create for ourselves come from that inner critic that tells us how we cannot invent or how poor our inventions really are. Would it be useful to be able to turn off that annoying voice at will? Here are a couple of techniques that may work for you.

Mickey Mouse

Notice the sound of the voice that the critic is using. Is it like a teacher or a strict parent? Now change it to sound like Mickey Mouse. Is it as powerful a dissuader now? Probably not. Play with other voices to find the one that works best for you. Make it softer, quieter, rounder, kinder. Now, when starting to invent, tell the critic that it will be Mickey Mouse (or whoever you choose) for the duration of the creative period.

You can also change the critic’s location. Move it onto your shoulder, then down to the end of your finger. Or push it down onto your big toe. When it is so far away, it should be less of a distraction.

Bite your tongue

When we talk to ourselves, our tongue tends to move very slightly. Hold your tongue between your teeth and see how much more difficult it is to hear the inner voices. A less painful form of stilling the tongue that Yogic meditators have known for centuries is to push your tongue gentle against the inside of your upper teeth.
 

Other sections in this chapter:

• 10.1. Three Sources of Blocks
• 10.2. Three Types of Block
• 10.3. Mental Blocks
• 10.4. Silencing the Inner Critic
• 10.5. Who Needs Experts?
• 10.6. Environmental Unblocking
• 10.7. Block Demolition
• 10.8. Unblocking Entire Companies

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