Who do you think you are?

Who do you think you are?

Most of us have heard this question. Mostly used in a rhetorical way to challenge you thinking so highly of yourself, right?

But I can think of one place that we may get this question a lot more frequently: in our heads.

Our inner critic, one of the biggest inhibitors of progress, is always there to challenge us and make us question our worth.

It is the main culprit behind the imposter syndrome that everyone talks about.

Not only can it have a negative effect on performance in different areas of life but it can profoundly destabilise our view of ourselves and therefore our identity.

Your inner critic can have you struggling between displaying arrogance or excess humility.

When you really question “Who do I think I am?”, you can become deceived into trying to stop others from believing that you are great.

You begin to portray an image of lowered self-esteem, where you pass up opportunities to demonstrate your strength and hyperfocus on your weaknesses.

You might think that this comes across as humble, but in reality, it does nothing to quiet your inner critic.

In fact, it just makes you doubt yourself even more than before, while showing a lack of self-awareness and understanding.

At the other end of the spectrum, wanting to disprove your inner critic might lead you into arrogance.

Arrogance is not built on a foundation in competence. It is a sense of grandiosity, rooted in ego, bravado and comparison.

Neither an arrogant mindset nor an excessively humble mindset demonstrate a realistic comprehension of self and they both hold you back, as a result.

That is the fundamental issue: those mindsets stem from a lack of clear identity.

When you cannot see yourself objectively, you do not have a basic foundation.

It is incredibly difficult to navigate life in this way.

When you see who you really are, and build self-trust through continuous self-study and consistently overcoming challenges, THAT is when you build true confidence.

THAT is when you draw closer and closer to the real you and you’re no longer fooled into believing that you are more or less than you truly are.

You understand, realistically, who you are, which gives puts you at an advantage when finding your way through life.

So the next time your inner critic asks “Who do you think you are?”, I want you to remember that: it’s not about who you THINK you are, but it’s moreso about who you KNOW you are.

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