BAD WORD BINGO
How do you keep yourself on your toes?
Do you sometimes call yourself an "idiot" or "stupid'?
Do you say "sorry" for an imperfection?
Are you afraid of being judged?
At Goldman IBD, we had a culture of the highest standards. No blemish was tolerated. Those who didn't get it were ridiculed and outcast. The slightest pronunciation of a word, a missing period in a deck, or doing something inefficiently was ridiculed. This culture made us excellent, but it also came with a lasting handicap: An inner narrative of self-judgment chattering away, to protect us from making a visible mistake and being judged by others.
A lot of people lament to me "oh i'm such an idiot" -- and I stop them in their tracks. This is really not a nice way to talk to yourself. It's incredibly damaging.
If you find yourself reflexively doing this, I invite you to participate in Bad Word Bingo. Any time you think or utter one of these words towards, yourself or others, write it down and give yourself a point:
Good / bad,
all / none
Weak / solid
Terrible / Impressive
Garbage / Worse than garbage!
Idiots / complete f'king idiot
Morons Stupid / f'kin stupid
As you raise your awareness of this critical inner dialog, you can break the pattern of letting your self criticism drive your behavior. And you’ll end up a much happier person