Self-criticism can be developed either by ourselves or when we are brought up in that environment. The environment could be by our parents, siblings, friends you spend time with and anyone you spent your time with. This can also be developed by yourself from the past experiences and if it is self-criticizing, we can say that those are unpleasant and negative experiences which usually are the ones that had made a negative impact to you.

So, how can you identify self-criticism and whether you are experiencing this? There are signs such as you keep blaming yourself for anything wrong that had happened in your life. Any mistakes or tragedy that had happened which sometimes might not be even related to you but because of external factors but you still put the blame on yourself. Other than that, are the way you speak to yourself. Like “Urgh you are so stupid” “Or you can do better. You should have done better”. The tone of your voice which you used with yourself is negative, the same like how those others speak to you.

1. Firstly, you have to be self-aware that you are doing this to yourself.
2. Then, you need to learn to respect yourself. Whenever that voice seeps into your thoughts, your mind, you have to change it immediately to something that is inspiring and positive.
3. Immediately shut off that voice from finishing its sentences and clouding your mind. Visualize it from being cut off from entering the physical brain, from entering your frontal cortex and gradually the nerves of your whole-being. Quickly change your words into the good part of your imagination.
4. And then whenever you made a mistake, don’t dwell on it. Sometimes we have a tendency to remember moments that were embarrassing, or like Damn I shouldn’t say that. I would too like then I will say Fuck shit. But then what you have to do is to say to yourself, “Ah… I don’t think they even remember that moment. Forget about it.” You will be surprised on how this will work well and you will eventually forget about those unnecessary memories.
5. And remember not to let others include you in their self-criticizing. I used to have a friend who did this. During conversations with our friends when she would like to talk about her own body size, she will mention me and her. So, in response to that, usually I will ignored her remarks. Whenever I don’t find worth it to argue and waste my time with ignorance, I will rather not talk about it in front of the person especially if I observed that it is not worth it. However, eventually, ten years later, I was in my clearer mind and brave enough to distanced myself from her and listen to my instinct to avoid similar individuals who keeps bringing me down.  

One of the handwriting trait that signifies self-criticizing is a sharp stroke of your t-bar. Check your small letter-t. The horizontal stroke is called the t-bar. If you write from right to left and the bar is sharp like a dagger, that is one of the self-criticizing handwriting traits. Usually, it will be written from right to left and is sharp.
 
And another handwriting traits is the i-dot. When you write your small letters I, the dot is not round. It is slashed and downward direction which is written from top to down instead of just the usual dot.
 
The other handwriting trait would be your signature. Individuals who has the tendency or habit of criticizing themselves will strike-off the signature, even if it is a small part of the signature. 

Firstly, for your letter t-bar.
Write the opposite of it. Write from left to right for the t-bar strokes. Or if you are comfortable with writing from right to left, mellow down on the sharp dagger like stroke.
 
Secondly, as for the i-dot, just dot your letter i. That is why it is called i-dot. Mellow it down by jotting a dot instead of aiming downwards towards yourself.
 
Lastly, as for the signature, remove the strike line. If you would like to underline, write it below your signature. Do not touch the signature. That is it.
 
Practice these whenever you have the chance to write. While writing, remember to change your mindset and psycho your mind by telling yourself that you can improve on not being hard to yourself and not criticizing anything that you do. If it is unpleasant or you make a mistake, just change the way you do things so you will not make the same error again and then let it go. Keep in mind that anything is possible, if you want to change like you want to you will change.

To re-post these contents on your website, social media, blogs, articles, YouTube etc, please remember to cite the Author's name, S.Sulianah, and link to her company's website www.grapholistic.com

This article is an excerpt from the new episode 11 from Grapholistic Podcast written by S.Sulianah. The pod all about handwritings and characters analysis. I am your podcaster, S.Sulianah. I am also the founder and the Graphologist for Grapholistic International. Grapholistic International is a company which I had started since 2005 focusing on personality development and handwritings and characters analysis.
 
In episode 1, I promised that Phase 5 which is the self-defence episode will be aired in episode 9. However, I made a lot of changes and decided to revamp my podcast structure to make it more detailed for you to follow through. So, now we are at episode 12 which I would like to share more details on the traits that could lower your self-esteem first just so you can avoid it during the course of building the foundation of your personality.
 
In this episode, I will then share with you how to learn more about yourself and the level of your self-esteem using the science of handwriting analysis. Just for your info, another term for studying the science of handwritings is called graphology. I will also share with you how you can identify and change your handwriting with a technique called Graphotherapy in order to improve your personality.
 
The Graphotherapy technique is a method that I have used to build my personal self-esteem and confidence. And so far over the course of 20 to 27 years I have used it, it is molding into who I am today. 

​These are the traits which I found out that had affected my self-esteem during the time when I was in my teenage years.
 
The traits that directly and also indirectly could bring your self-confidence down. The traits that could impact the way you speak to people, and most importantly to yourself. These are some of the significant traits which could lower your self-esteem.

1. Self-critical
2. Fickle mindedness
3. Timidity
4. Low self-confidence
5. Sarcastic
6. Sensitive to criticisms
7. Not being trustworthy
8. Comparing with others
9. Too concern of what others think about you
10. Spending your time with the wrong people
11. Allowing others to disrespect you

 
Even at moments when you have set your goals, change bad habits, developing your skills and successfully achieving those goals, if these traits are still present in you and you let it grow with you, it will make your life uncomfortable, you will end up not being grateful with your accomplishments, and eventually will cause distress and lower your self-confidence. The goals you set and the life you have to live on should not be causing you stress or pain. It should motivate you to live your life and be happy with yourself.
 
You will wonder why do people still don’t feel happy when they have everything? Sometimes they will feel like everything are not enough when they have more than enough, when they have everything that they ever wanted. So, why? Because all these traits are still embedded in their personality. If you experienced this issue with yourself which is you will constantly criticize yourself, then you have to learn how to stop doing that.
 
 
Then you may ask now how can you stop doing that? How can you manage or eliminate these traits from your personality?
 
In the upcoming episodes, I will share with you how to improve these traits using the Graphotherapy technique. And if you are interested to know how to first know whether it is present on your handwriting and how to then eliminate or reduce these traits by changing your handwriting, continue to listen to the next episode.

To re-post these contents on your website, social media, blogs, articles, YouTube etc, please remember to cite the Author's name, S.Sulianah, and link to her company's website www.grapholistic.com