How to stop letting your inner cr...

How to stop letting your inner critic decide who you are

Explicit
Wellish by Sarah Ritondale
S4 · E261
Jul 13, 2026
19:38

Episode notes

Do you ever wonder where your inner critic actually came from?

In this Confessions of a Wellish Girly episode, I’m sharing a realization I had in therapy that completely changed the way I think about self-improvement, self-worth, and identity.

Growing up, friendship rejection taught me to believe I had to manage my image to be accepted. I thought those thoughts were just “me.” But what if that voice in your head isn’t your true self at all? What if it’s simply trying to protect you from being hurt again?

I talk about the therapy exercise that helped me separate my thoughts from my identity, why your protective voice isn’t your enemy, and how getting to know yourself has less to do with becoming someone new and more to do with paying attention to what genuinely makes you feel alive.

If you’ve ever felt trapped trying to be more impressive, more likable, or more “enough,” this episode is for you.

Because maybe you don’t need to change who you are, you just need to stop letting fear tell you who you have to be.

Keywords

self improvement
people pleasing
inner critic
self worth
Childhood trauma
friendship trauma
Therapy insights
identity and self esteem
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
How to stop caring what people think