While I understand the value of being thorough in the work that we do, while I value the one-pointed attention we can give to our work, while I understand the desire to put our best ideas into what we do, I fail to understand where the belief and practice that self-doubt, self-minimizing, and self-criticism contribute to the quality of our work.

Where and how do we come to believe that negativity contributes to good quality? When has it really ever done so?

Why do we have the belief that self-criticism can push us to greater heights?

Why do you believe that negativity is necessary for us to succeed?

Because our self dialogues, our internal dialogues, seem completely internal to us, we seem to allow the most peculiar of thought-forms to settle into our being and shape how we experience the scenes of this life.

What if you for a moment imagined that you were two people having a conversation the very conversation you have with yourself internally, can you picture saying it to someone else out loud? And would it be okay with you to say these things to someone else?

Here’s the check-point.

Would you say the things you say to yourself in the seeming privacy of your own mind, to someone else? Would you teach another, a child even, that success is born of thought-forms of self-minimization, self-doubt, and self-criticism? And can you come to be aware that despite your best efforts, your internal dialogue does end up on the work you produce?

Negativity breeds negativity. While it may appear that criticizing yourself is pushing you to do better, the truth is that the self-criticisms merely hamper your true capacity and ability. You’re only pushing through the brackets you’ve imposed upon yourself, rather than truly displaying the whole of your creative force. The full force of your creative ability cannot come through if you’re hanging on to thoughts of self-limitations.

The question is, why do you turn to self-criticism anyway? Why do you lean on negativity?

Like attracts like. What negativity does is create stress, anxiety, worry, and other pull-me-down experiences.

“Every day we slaughter our finest impulses. That is why we get a heart-ache when we read those lines written by the hand of a master and recognize them as our own, as the tender shoots which we stifled because we lacked the faith to believe in our own powers, our own criterion of truth and beauty. Every man, when he gets quiet, when he becomes desperately honest with himself, is capable of uttering profound truths. We all derive from the same source. There is no mystery about the origin of things. We are all part of creation, all kings, all poets, all musicians; we have only to open up, to discover what is already there.” ~Henry Miller, Sexus

Can our best ideas come through when we’re hanging on to thought-forms that say we just might not be good enough, smart enough, deep enough? Can your brilliance come through only when you are pushed by your negativity, as subtle as it may be? Put in this light, does it still make sense to you?

Have you tried it the other way?