How to Master Your Inner Dialogue

The title may sound a little misleading. What follows might be surprising—even unsettling—for some. There are different levels of self-awareness. Many people avoid looking inside altogether. How do I feel? What do I think? Such questions rarely enter their mind. They keep themselves busy, surround themselves with noise, and distract themselves—anything to escape introspection. The next level of awareness is realizing that there is something inside. At this stage, we begin to notice an “inner dialogue.” We believe there is one solid and constant psychic entity called I . Through meditation and self-reflection, we try to connect with this “I” and discover what it really wants. But if you continue this practice, something unexpected happens: you begin to notice that there isn’t just one voice inside. There is a whole plurality . Different parts of you speak up, each with its own role and its own messages. One of the easiest to recognize is the so-called Inner Critic (or Censo...