EBELE MOGO: Turning your inner critic into an asset / Street-side Convos [OPINION]

What comes to mind when you think of the word “critic”? I would imagine that you remember the voice either inside you or in the world that doubts if things will work out and if they will be worth it, and when, and how and why, etcetera. I have found that the voice in my head is often just a way to get control over things I cannot control and I am getting better at putting it in its place. Enough about that: we all know about the inner critic and her downsides but I have found that she also has a place where she can be useful.

My inner critic is very useful in making plans – in setting goals, and strategizing, and evaluating. The critical me is good at setting limits and boundaries and time lines to get things done. The critical you can be useful in helping you do things. A few ways that being critical has helped me lately:

In writing: A kind reviewer helped me to think more clearly about how to work on a really long essay I am trying to craft by advising me to ask the following critical questions as I thought of my narrative: What happened? So what? And now what? Asking these three simple but critical questions helped me to think of how to craft my story with much more oomph. And once I got the foundation right, it became easy to imagine making something that was both sturdy, engaging and creative.

In my organization’s work: At Engage Africa Foundation, we gathered to plan strategically for the new year. We had to be critical about our organization and where we wanted to go and so we had a long meeting to think about our strengths (the things we had going for us), our weaknesses (the things that weren’t our edge), opportunities, and potential threats. This was so useful in helping us see where it was that we would be best positioned to achieve our mission. It helped to frame our discussions and funny enough, so many great spontaneous ideas came out of giving ourselves a seemingly strict framework to guide our discussion.

The same applies to the process of learning to ask better questions that my dissertation formulation is taking me through. A key aspect of being a scholar is tapping into work, frameworks, results, papers that have come before yours – understanding what the literature says and based on that where you can add value. This helps you to yield insight by first looking critically at work that has paved the way for your own question. It helps you to get realistic about your question, and the back and forth between you and other scholars also refines the question even more until it can make a true contribution to the field.

So maybe it is not about silencing our inner critic but setting the right boundaries for her. Maybe she is trying to help and we have to guide her. I say her simply because I am female:) Instead of using your inner critic to put yourself down, your critical self can be tasked with helping you see clearly, with finding the tools to shape your craft. I find it interesting how giving ourselves some boundaries (which our critical self is good at doing) can be useful in helping us be more spontaneous and creative.

Your critical lens can help with finding where it is that you are already positioned to dance freely and happily by helping you take an honest, good, and analytical look at yourself, your work and your world. A realistic assessment of your work can give it room to find its best shape.

Don’t be afraid to put your critical self to good use, just make sure she is serving you, not detracting you. When she moves over into self-doubt and worry call her back to where she is best placed to serve you: when she is helping you think concretely, plan clearly and shape your thinking so there’s lots of room to play.

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