What happens when your inner critic takes over — even when you’re more than capable?
A new project lands. Something you haven’t done before.
You know you can handle it…
and yet your whole system goes into overdrive.
You prepare. And prepare. And prepare some more.
You lose a bit of sleep. The pressure rises.
The results are usually great — but they come at a cost.
Not because you’re incapable.
But because you don’t hear trust yourself — you hear your inner critic.
In this episode of Coach Me If You Can, I’m joined by leadership coach and author Julie Smith, who literally wrote the book on this: Coach Yourself Confident.
Together, we explore what’s really happening when confidence and capability don’t line up — and how the inner critic quietly pushes us past the sweet spot of enough preparation into stress and self-doubt.
Julie coaches me live through my own “everything depends on this” pattern and shows:
how to recognise when the inner critic has taken over
why over-preparing can erode self-trust
how to find the sweet spot of just enough preparation
and how confidence grows when you learn to trust yourself from there
This is a conversation about learning to coach yourself — especially when you’re capable, committed, and still doubting yourself.
That’s why speaking to Julie was such a gift.
About the guest
Julie Smith is a leadership coach and the author of Coach Yourself Confident: Ditch the self-doubt tax, unlock humble confidence.
🔗 Book & Julie’s work: https://www.talentsprout.co.uk/coach-yourself-confident
More from Coach Me If You Can
🔗 https://www.coachmeifyoucan.com
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