The Inner Critic: First Steps When It Grabs the Wheel

The inner critic is that voice inside that is, more often than not, turned against us. Dr. Saulitis puts a number on it: roughly "80 percent" of this voice works in the negative, with a toxic effect. This brochure isn't about where it came from — it's about what to do right now, when it starts "winding up the whole music."

Why it grows louder precisely when you're tired

The doctor's main point is simple: the critic doesn't get loud out of nowhere. "You get tired, and the moment you get tired, it kicks in." When the nervous system weakens, it becomes suggestible — a trigger easily breaks through, and anxiety builds.

In such moments you lose "the wave" — that state in which you hold yourself together. It gets knocked off for various reasons, and reality, as the doctor says, "just gets washed away, like that, and it's gone." The little flame inside still flickers, but there's no energy left to stay in it — and then the quiet creeps in: "am I doing the right thing, will I make it," and "the infection" grows.

First step — recognize your state, don't argue with the thoughts

The critic is powerful not because it's right, but because in that moment it's "the only one." The doctor compares it to sleep or to a fever: when you're inside the situation, there's no "first, second, or third" — no other points of support. So the first step is not to prove the critic wrong, but to notice: "right now I'm tired, my nervous system is weak, and that's why this sounds so loud."

Second step — retreat to your place of power and recover

The doctor's key image: "like a wise snake — you have to go where no one can reach you. That is the place of power." If you get "caught in the line of fire" while depleted, it's, in his words, like being "frozen and out in the cold in winter" — not the best time to fight.

So the strategy isn't to force yourself through it, but to allow recovery. After a marathon you need recovery — "then there will be even more energy, even more strength."

Third step — don't "buy it" and learn to switch it off

The doctor speaks of the ability "not to buy the situation" and "to switch it off." That is the skill: not taking the critic's accusations as fact. And alongside it — don't fear that you won't cope. "The best goalkeeper is the one who has let in the most goals": taking a hit doesn't mean breaking.

Practice: first steps when the critic starts the music

1. Name your state. Ask yourself: "Am I tired? Is my nervous system weak right now?" If so — the critic is loud because of fatigue, not truth.
2. Breathe. Inhale — exhale. A simple anchor to return to yourself from a "washed-away" reality.
3. Retreat to your place of power. Find a place where "no one can reach you" and lie low — this is recovery, not running away.
4. Recover, don't force yourself. "You must not force yourself" — after a load you need rest; then energy comes back.
5. Don't buy the accusations. Notice the critic's thought and switch it off, like a situation you don't have to enter.