Telling the negative inner voices to shuttup

Emily Balivet's Mezzo Goddess

We all have it.  That voice.  Just when you are feeling anything is possible, that voice comes in and starts whispering to you.  The whispers become shouts and soon enough you are paralyzed by fear.  You swim in your own insipid ocean of self-doubt and not-good-enough, and no one cares.  You feel alone and stupid and can't believe you even had the "good" idea in the first place.

I hate that damn voice.

I've thought about naming it, so I can yell at it and curse it properly.  It feels like it would be easier to make it go away that way.  Perhaps I should think of a name, but in the meantime, I've been working on getting him out of my head again (my voice is male which I've always thought was a little odd, but I roll with it since this isn't the kind of dude I really want to argue with).

Thank goodness I've been able to sort out the ways that work best to silence the voice. For me, it's 2 things work consistently well.

1.  Finding someone to talk to an acknowledge the fact that I'm feeling vulnerable.  Usually once I can spit the words out of my mouth or type them out in a note or message, the feelings and thoughts suddenly start to lose their power and the clouds and darkness start parting.  Sometimes it's really, really hard to get to that point but it always feel so good when I do.  Oh, and there is usually a tear or two involved too.

2.  The second thing that helps is re-setting my focus.  Instead of thinking "I can't, I can't" I start to think about what makes me happy and how far I've come with my personal goals and I start to hear my own voice again.  I give the power back to me and that voice, that damn voice, goes away again.  If only there were a proper receptacle in which to dispose of him.  I would crumple his sorry butt up and stuff him inside.

It's a part of the process I guess.  I don't know anyone who hasn't had a moment of self-doubt.  The trick is not to get stuck there.

How do you deal with that negative inner voice?