Human's Greatest Enemy

Human being. Quite complex.

What is the reason for my reaction that I was ashamed? My emotions, my values, my inner voice, regrets, dreams, me... Who was I? What am I now? The list keeps going on, the questions in my mind never end.

On the other hand, understanding some things may be easier than we think. I find comfort in discovering that there are methods worth trying, and I look forward to sharing them.

Last year, I participated in the Positive Intelligence training by Shirzad Chamine, the founder of the PQ Coaching Program. He and his team have developed a tool for the "inner critic" that we often talk about in coaching, making it accessible and understandable to everyone. What is this inner critic? Cicero's quote, "Human's greatest enemy is itself," seems to refer to this inner critic, judge, adversary, whatever you name it. Contrary to what we often assume, this time, I won't fall into the trap of judging this situation. On the contrary, here's the good news: By human nature, everyone has an inner critic. Maybe in different forms, different ways, dominant, or subdued. But most of the time, a separate self within us is the first barrier to our progress, learning, and development. If I could explain the concept of the critic in my own way, now I'd like to tell you about the tool that I discovered in the training: Positive Intelligence – Saboteur*.

The tool is beautiful and user-friendly. It offers the opportunity to quickly see the aspects of yourself that you hadn't thought of before on paper. It consists of 53 questions, and it's available to everyone for free. After completing the test, you'll receive your results to your email, and you'll learn something about the dominant sides that sabotage you.

The results are automatic, so not all of the evaluation content may apply to you. This is when you may need a coach. Some of the coach's powerful questions could be: Which topic are you choosing to focus on among all this information? What else is your inner critic telling you? What are you noticing? And with this awareness and your learnings, what will you do differently next time?

If the coach you work with is someone that you trust and can openly share everything with, you've taken another step closer to silencing your inner critic. Even the desire to do something for yourself and reach out to someone you can get support from is commendable on its own, I would also praise you for your courage to see your inner obstacles, your openness to learning, and your focus on growth deserve in advance.

* https://assessment.positiveintelligence.com/saboteur/overview