Dealing with your inner critic (and what actually works)
Welcome to Episode 234 of the Executive Edge podcast.
You’ve probably tried to overcome that critical inner voice. Most of us have.
Read the books. Done the reflection. Told yourself you’ll respond differently next time. And then the trigger hits — in a meeting, in a difficult conversation, at home — and there you are again. Same reaction. Same loop.
This week I talk with Joanna Kleinman — psychotherapist, leadership coach, and creator of the M.I.N.D Method. Joanna has spent 30 years working with people who are doing everything right on paper and still feeling stuck. Her starting point will challenge you: your conditioned mind cannot be changed. But it can be observed. And that changes everything.
Three things I took from this conversation
1. Your winning strategy is also your prison
Before the age of about five or six, something happens that tells us there’s something wrong with us. We spend the rest of our lives building an identity to make sure we never feel that way again. The smart one. The person who handles it all. The people pleaser. These strategies work — for a while. But they also quietly run your decisions, your reactions, and your relationships long after they’ve stopped serving you.
2. Success doesn’t fix it
This is the part that lands hardest. You can reach the top — genuinely impressive achievements, real recognition — and still feel exactly as you did at 25. Because if your conditioned identity is what’s driving your ambition, you’ll keep needing the next thing. Joanna’s point isn’t that striving is wrong. It’s about who is doing the striving, and why.
3. The body knows before the brain does
The M.I.N.D Method isn’t about thinking differently — it’s about noticing. Your nervous system signals the hijack before you’re consciously aware of it. Defensiveness. Over-functioning. Shutting down. Joanna calls these your indication signs. Once you know yours, you can interrupt the loop in real time. That’s where change actually happens.
Connect with Joanna
If any of this resonates, Joanna has a free Inner Critic Assessment at innercriticassessment.com — worth five minutes of your time.
Learn more about Joanna’s book: “Dethroning Your Inner Critic: The Four Step Journey From Self Doubt to Self Empowerment”
