How to tell the difference between

your Inner Critic and actual thoughts.

Your mindset and its beliefs

can be totally unconscious.

It's not always easy to identify them.

For many people, a negative mindset manifests itself as an "inner critic."

This is an inner voice or private conversation that occurs in your mind on continuous repeat mode behind your conscious thoughts

Exercise to become aware of your inner critic

Schedule 15-20 minutes today to do exercise.

Make sure it is during a time

when you have no distractions.

Close your eyes and imagine the type of life you'd love to have if anything were possible.

Does your ideal life include more vacations, more money, or better relationships?

Write down the characteristics of your ideal life.

For each characteristic, close your eyes and

think about what each looks like for you.

For example, if you have "financial freedom" as one characteristic,

what does that actually mean for you?

Does that mean having your house paid for by the time you are 45?

Does that mean having your children's schooling paid for?

Does that mean travel three times a year?

Does that mean earning a six-figure salary?

Write these down.

As you are thinking about each of these,

pay close attention to the thoughts that come.

Are all your thoughts positive?

These could be thoughts like "I've got a steady pipeline of new business."

"I can get to six figure income."

Or are there other intrusive thoughts that pop up?

These could be things like:

"Yeah, right - incoming new business!

Who do you think you are?"

This is your inner critic speaking.

Write all of your positive and

negative thoughts down.

This exercise may take some time.

Many people have trouble differentiating

between the inner critic and their actual thoughts,

so if you have not uncovered any inner critic thoughts, this may be the case for you.

You need to be aware of your inner critic in order to remove those thoughts of negativity.

So, good job, if you get negative thoughts coming up from your unconscious as the more aware you

are of your inner critic, the more you can train your brain to remove your inner critic thoughts.

The key to this exercise is to become aware of your inner voice.

Next time we will look at how to remove your inner critic thoughts from your mindset.

For more on training your success mindset, go to http://jgtips.com/smindset.