We all have an inner voice that speaks to us regularly. When this voice is kind and understanding, it can be a great guide to helping you through challenges.

This exercise is all about getting to know your inner voice better. How do you talk to yourself when you face a challenge? Are you compassionate? Do you speak to yourself like you are your own best friend? Or are you a little more harsh and critical? Which voice do you think helps you reach your goals.

Step 1: Read about the challenges below and see how a self-critical voice (left column) sounds versus a self-compassionate one (right column). The compare how these two different voices affect the character you’re reading about.

Next time you have an adversity, take a moment to notice how your inner voice sounds. See if you can choose to speak to yourself with greater compassion. Speak to yourself like a best friend would speak to you.

Step 2: Your turn? Use one of the templates below to write in what you think a self-critical and self-compassionate voice sounds like. You can even use the last challenge you faced as an example.