Besides the physically draining aspects of having to get up at 3am to go into work or to soldier on through the middle of the night when you’re on night shift, there is something else which can deplete your energy levels even further and it’s called Your Inner Critic.
Your Inner Critic is simply a voice inside your head saying negative things about you with the intention of making you feel bad. This negative self-talk can be mentally and physically exhausting.
Your inner critic or inner voice can rob you of precious energy by bombarding your mind with negative and sometimes hurtful comments. In some instances this can make you question your ability and unravel your self-esteem.
In essence your Inner Critic can destroy your self-confidence and make you feel awful.
You may even have days when you feel like there is a little man sitting on your shoulder whispering into your ear reminding you of a time in the past when you did something wrong, which can be mentally and emotionally draining.
So not only do we often struggle with the physical demands of having to work irregular hours whilst working shift work, many of us underestimate what’s going on inside our brain and how it can unconsciously sap our energy levels.
In most cases this negative self-talk is completely irrational and self-defeating yet many of us actually believe them to be true.
Your inner critic can also put limitations on you by comparing yourself with other people, and even brush off a compliment given to you in good faith.
Do you remember the last time someone said something hurtful to you? How did it make you feel? Possibly quite deflated and unappreciated.
If fact unrelenting self-criticism can even lead to depression and anxiety as it harnesses feelings of hopelessness and helplessness.
So how do you stop this inner critic or inner voice?
By silencing your Inner Critic and dragging out your Inner Coach to help energize and support you. Your Inner Coach is the calming, encouraging and nurturing voice inside of you.
It provides you with positive self talk.
Your Inner coach will help focus on your strengths rather than on your weaknesses which will help uplift and energize your physically exhausted body and make you feel mentally stronger.
If however, you feel at war with your Inner Critic and just can’t seem to find a way to stop the negative chatter inside your head, then you may like to enlist in some professional help and visit a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or CBT focuses on your thoughts (both good and bad) and how your thoughts create feelings which in turn lead to certain behaviours.
When your thoughts are positive and encouraging, you automatically feel energized and have more of a spring in your step when you go into work each day.
As opposed to irrational, self-defeating thoughts which can leave you feeling fatigued and unmotivated – both at home and in the workplace.
So if you want to improve your energy whilst working shift work, enlist the help of your Inner Coach and at the same time – fire your Inner Critic. It doesn’t mean that it’s going to be easy as it will require some work, particularly if you’ve had this negative chatter in your ears for quite a few years. But when positive self-talk outweighs the negative it can be one of the most uplifting and euphoric feelings you will ever have.
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