Hey there Subscriber First Name. Have you ever been shocked by something you said out loud?

I felt that way a few weeks ago when I heard my own negative self-talk. My inner critic had entered the chat, and it makes perfect sense as to why she reemerged: The world feels heavy. The future is unclear. Every week seems to bring more difficult news and impossible decisions. All of this has poked at my fear and insecurities, which was a slippery slope for my inner critic to find her way back in the driver’s seat.

At first, she sounded reasonable. She tried to convince me that I wasn’t doing enough and that I needed to do more… that I needed to compromise my wellbeing to make sure everything was getting accomplished.

But the more I listened to her, the more I became trapped in overwhelm. The more I tried to keep up, the more disconnected I became.

Subscriber First Name, if you’ve been feeling this way, then keep reading. I found something that helped:

With the support of my loving and trusted community, I realized that my inner critic was shrinking me. So I tried something different… I gave my inner critic a name:

The Hyper-Achiever.

I learned about this inner critic (also known as a saboteur) through an assessment from Positive Intelligence. My results quickly affirmed that my inner Hyper-Achiever was trying to self-sabotage. She was creating problem-saturated stories and trying to keep me in a cycle of negative, self-fulfilling prophecies.

What the results also affirmed is that because I know who she is, I now have the power to do the work to deconstruct her stories and get back to knowing my truth.

I often introduce this notice-to-naming cycle to social impact leaders who are working under immense pressure. It’s critical that we name the parts of ourselves that desperately want to have an impact, but at times feel helpless up against chronic overwork, resource scarcity, systemic inequity, and the emotional toll of our work.

The work of addressing our inner critics and the less-than-sexy parts of ourselves is not to silence them. Instead, it’s about witnessing them, asking good questions, and activating their strengths with care and boundaries.

Recently, I asked my Hyper-Achiever what she’s afraid of and what she’s trying to tell me. I wanted to know what she needed me to understand about this moment.

What I gathered is that she is driven, focused, and sharp… but also afraid, exhausted, and in need of more support. My ongoing work with my inner critic is to make sure she feels held without letting her run the show, so that I can return to the full truth of who I am: worthy even when I slow down, powerful even when I rest, and impactful even when I release the pressure to prove.

And that’s why I’m particularly excited to share something new that we’re testing at Do Good Leadership Collective:

New Assessment: Discovering Your Stress ‘Zones of Delusion’

We are currently testing a beta version of a stress-pattern assessment designed to help you name your own inner critic (or critics!) and begin working with (not against) your stress responses.

The point of this isn’t about fixing yourself. It’s about becoming more aware, more self-compassionate, and more capable of leading from a grounded and embodied place.

We’re inviting a small group of nonprofit and social impact professionals to try this assessment as part of our testing phase. Our hope is that the final product will become a powerful tool for wellbeing-centered leadership within nonprofit and social impact organizations.

If you’re interested in naming and understanding your own stress patterns so you can stop letting them run the show, then click here. FYI: two participants at random will be chosen to win a $50 gift card once the testing phase ends in June :)