I recently presented my keynote at a large conference for women in Engineering. I opened my keynote — Discover Your Authentic Voice - And How To Use It To Create Change — with a story about the feedback I received in my corporate career that I was too direct. Because of that feedback, I started to hold back the bold, fiery side of me. I questioned my voice and began to speak more cautiously. Not thoughtfully, cautiously.Which begs the question -- should I have ever listened to that feedback in the first place?!?

There will be people who judge what you do with your life, whether that's something as small as saying no to a dinner party invite or as big as leaving your job to take risk on something completely different.

So what if you just let that go and gave yourself permission to be judged by them?

What if you listened to your own knowing and made decisions based on what you know in your core is right for you, instead of decisions based on the fear of what other people might think?

The inner critic is real! It shows up in response to imposter syndrome, perfectionism, and all the rules you’re taught about what you’re “supposed” to do to be a good woman, parent, friend, spouse, employee, leader, etc! When you fall short of the standards embedded in those rules, your inner critic swoops in.

You know when criticism sticks in your head and swirls around and around, creating a ruminating split pea soup of toxicity? We've all been there. It's NOT fun. So what can you do about it? Here are two practices to help stop the toxic swirl and move forward.