• 11 months ago
Retrain Your Mind! Ian Keeling's Powerful Speech on overcoming your own worst enemy and toughest critic.

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Transcript
00:00 I end up asking that question, "Who's your toughest critic?"
00:04 Now, if I ask the youngest kids, those six, seven-year-olds,
00:07 I get a variety of answers -
00:08 mom, dad, the teacher, maybe a sibling -
00:11 but then from the corner of the room, one voice,
00:15 "Myself."
00:17 I turned to discover a young woman, maybe 12, 13 years old,
00:23 down, huddled, arms around her knees, looking up.
00:27 "Myself."
00:28 By grade nine, that voice is everywhere.
00:31 Now, hey, that voice can be a positive force in our lives.
00:35 It can help us improve ourselves.
00:37 It's part of our moral core.
00:39 But often, too often,
00:42 it can get ramped up just a little too high,
00:44 or worse, get stuck in the "on" position,
00:47 and that's when it can do damage.
00:49 Because if it's saying things like, "Nobody likes you,"
00:52 or, "That was terrible,"
00:54 that's not analysis, that's abuse.
00:57 Because if you wouldn't say it to your best friend,
01:00 then why?
01:02 Why do we inflict that kind of judgment on ourselves?
01:06 Because that's the voice that can drive us apart.
01:09 It can make us so anxious
01:11 that we're terrified to leave our homes.
01:13 I struggled with this for years,
01:15 not realizing that while I was afraid the world might judge me,
01:19 the harshest critic was already inside the house.
01:23 It can lead to depression.
01:25 It can lead to substance abuse,
01:27 because maybe, just maybe,
01:29 we can get that voice to shut up for just a little while.
01:32 It can separate us in so many ways.
01:37 But here's the thing.
01:39 I come here today, maybe not to bury that inner critic,
01:42 but perhaps to praise it.
01:44 Let's try this game again.
01:45 When I ask that question at the beginning of my speech,
01:48 "Who's your toughest critic?"
01:50 put up your hand if your answer was some version of myself.
01:55 Look at that.
01:57 That's a lot of hands.
02:00 A whole bunch of people all sharing the same flaw.
02:03 We are united by so many positive things,
02:11 but we are also connected by our flaws,
02:14 including that one flaw
02:16 that maybe just obsesses a little too much
02:18 about all those other imperfections.
02:20 And if we can come to accept that,
02:22 not only in others, but also in ourselves,
02:27 well, then maybe we can start taking down some of those barriers
02:30 and step out from behind our shelters
02:34 to discover a world filled with people just like us,
02:40 all with their hand in the air,
02:43 saying, "Hey, meet me."
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