You wouldn't shame your friends if they made a mistake or gained a few, so stop doing it to yourself. You have between 12,000 and 60,000 thoughts a day, and research indicates that around 80% of them are negative. A certain amount of self-criticism is both normal and useful: in fact, it developed as a survival skill and can help us with personal growth and self-improvement. That is, until it becomes automatic and develops into negative self-talk. Have you ever told yourself you'll never be able to achieve something? Has your inner voice ever told you that you need to lose weight? Do you often assume something's your fault, even when you know this isn't rational? If these kinds of thoughts seem familiar to you, you're probably one of the millions of people who has a negative inner critic. Your inner voice is constantly narrating your life, and the chances are, it sometimes has a thing or two to say that is less than encouraging. The problem is, the longer this goes on, the more it starts to impact your life. When we constantly tell ourselves that we don't deserve the things we want or that it's impossible to achieve our goals, we make it impossible. We get caught in a vicious cycle, and that little voice wins. But it doesn't have to. You are stronger than that voice, and you can break the cycle .