I was texting with a friend the other day who said he was glad my business was going well. Jokingly, I replied that my boss was a jerk (I’m self-employed) and that I was too hard on myself. He replied, “You should fire that guy.”
You know what? He was right. As I thought about it, I realized that there was no way that I could speak to an employee the way that I internally speak to myself sometimes, and if I did, the employee would either quit or sue me.
We all have an internal dialogue going on, and I’m not sure if it’s just a self-employed trait or the way that I’m wired, but that voice in my head never shuts up. I’m constantly critiquing, reviewing, analyzing, and monitoring my work. I noticed that in my case, that voice is a mostly negative fellow, and not the nice, forgiving and patient guy that outwardly speaks to people I work with.
Now I’m more aware of the feedback that I’m giving myself. If it’s negative, I stop and think about why I’m thinking that way, and then I’ll reframe the incident in a more positive way. It’s only been a couple of days, and the results have been good. I’m less angry at myself and as a result have been way more productive. Nice bonus there.
So I’m sorry voice in my head. Your performance isn’t what we’re looking for at Graphic Zen so I’m going to have to let you go.
My advice? Give it a try and give yourself a break. You’re worth it.