This new loved-up approach to your voice and to practice might make you feel a little itchy.

You WILL have pushback.

There will be voices that start to snark at you that “this won’t change things” or “this won’t help you progress fast enough” or “this doesn’t count as ‘real practice’.”

They’re very much related to the voices that will cringe at your mistakes, question why you ever thought you could sing and listen intently for the slightest imperfection so they can tell you “I told you so.”

I wanted to talk a little bit about these voices because often we get frustrated with them, call them our “inner critic” and try desperately to bury them or drown them out with positive affirmations.

These voices are there to protect you.

They’re parts of you who have been hurt before and it’s important that we don’t ignore or punish them.

They’re armoured and suspicious for a reason. 

Because something happened to you that involved rejection or criticism or disappointment or failure and it doesn’t want to experience that ever again.

They want to avoid risk.

They want to avoid vulnerability.

They often cling to over-achieving or trying really hard because they think that’s the path to “success.”

They shuffle uncomfortably in their chair when you take things slower and softer because they DON’T TRUST slow and soft.

They demonise mistakes because they link them with failure and a sense of not being good enough.

They don’t like to let go of control because control feels like safety (and a lack of it feels wild and risky).

So please don’t get frustrated when (yes WHEN, not if) they appear, because they’re actually providing you with vital information (which I’m sure we’ll uncover in the next section).

Just notice when they arc up and acknowledge what they have to say.

And, almost as though they were a person in front of you, have a conversation with them.

Something a little like this…

“I hear you and I know this is uncomfortable and foreign territory, but we’re exploring something new. 

It’s okay (and normal) that it feels uncomfortable because it’s different to how we’ve done it before.

We’ve become more comfortable with pushing or avoiding or over-analysing and criticising our voice, but that’s not serving us or our dreams. So let’s give this a go.”

Your turn

Have you noticed any of these voices crop up yet? What do they say?

How do you feel about seeing them as protectors instead of critics? Knowing that they’re often putting on the brakes to protect you from pain or disappointment rather than sabotaging you?

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