The Evidence Journal – A Valuable Life Tool!

Hi everyone,

There’s a simple and powerful tool for calming the voice of the inner critic and I’d love to share it with you here. You know what I mean by the inner critic, right? Whatever we call it (i.e.: the gremlin, the committee, the ego, etc), it’s the job of the inner critic to do what it can to make us miserable.

It can work very hard to tell us we’re not smart enough, talented enough, or good enough; we’re too tall, too short, too big, too small; we never have enough money for the things we want, enough time to do the things we want to; the right house, car, partner, body, career, talents, etc. And then there’s the classic line that seems to act like a virus in the minds of so many of us in the western world ... the “you’re not getting enough done” line. Sound familiar?

At its worst the voice of our inner critic can feel strong enough to suck the wind right out of our sails and leave us feeling anxious, stressed, depressed and/or helpless. At best it can be a big drain on our precious energy and keep us playing small. And yet the truth is that the voice of the inner critic has no power at all unless we believe its messages!

A thought is simply a thought and carries no meaning other than what we give it. If we notice a thought and recognize it as false or inaccurate, it loses all hold on us and we relax into living our lives with joy and peace. We can simply notice the thought, just like a cloud in the sky, here and then gone ... we notice it and let it go.

So, how can we recognize a thought or message as true, false or not fully accurate? One simple, yet powerful, way to do this is to record evidence in a journal or on paper so that you can see it and re-read it. This is a little gem of a tool I first read about in Michael Losier’s book The Law of Attraction, and I’ve used this tool many times to calm the voice of my own inner critic.

It’s based on a simple concept really. It comes down to testing the validity of a thought or message by looking for evidence of its truth and evidence of its opposite – and recording the evidence. I’ll use an example from my own life right now.

At times over the last few months my inner critic has been very persistent in telling me that I’m not getting enough done – in fact it’s been bold enough to tell me I’m getting nothing done! Amazing! Thankfully I have evidence to the contrary. In fact I have a LOT of evidence to the contrary.

Every couple of weeks I list my most recent accomplishments in my journal. Since the voice likes to tell me that I’m getting little or nothing done, I record evidence of the opposite, which is “I’m accomplishing things”. I write a running record of my accomplishments, big, medium and small. And what do you know; the evidence proves that I’m getting a lot done.

It’s not possible to believe the inner critic when I can see so much proof that I’m getting things done. I read the evidence and it connects me to the truth. Instead of believing the voice that would tell me I need to get more done to be happy, I realize that the truth is that I am happy, and in fact I would likely be a little happier if I got less done. Yes, less. Can you imagine? I sigh and sink into the recognition that all is well.

So, if your inner critic is active and you notice a serious leakage of vital life energy, get out a pen and piece of paper and write. Start by writing down evidence of the opposite of the message that your critic is feeding you. If you think you don’t have enough money, write down evidence of where and when you do have enough money; if you think you’re not a good mother, look for and write down examples of how, where and when you are a good mother. Do you feed your children? Do you drive them places? Do you clean and cook for them? And if you feel led, write down any evidence that might support the inner critic’s message. You may not find any. Or you may find some and that’s good food for thought – it could give you a more balanced perspective. Either way you’ll have more of the truth; you’ll know what to believe and what to recognize as a very tired and old story.

And if you’re thinking that it would be a lot of work to do this for every negative message your critic feeds you, I’d like you to remember two things. One, because the inner critic doesn’t want you to relax it will tell you that it would be a lot of work to use the evidence journal (it can be sneaky).

And two, a little of something is better than a lot of nothing. The truth is that most of us think a tiny few of the same negative thoughts over and over every day. So start with one. I can assure you that you will feel noticeably better.

In short, the power of the evidence journal is that it brings you to the truth. And you know what they say about the truth ... it will set you free. Here’s to that!!

Love and light,
Lee