Judging ...

People don't judge us as much as we ourselves do ! The inner critic berates us and the world, "Be perfect ..... Be perfect ..... Be perfect ..... Be perfect ..... Be perfect ..... Be perfect ..... Be perfect ..... Be pBe perfect ..... Be perfect ..... Be perfect ..... Be perfect ..... ..... Be perfect ..... Be perfect ..... Be perfect ....." ..... while we are not aware or aware too much !

I agree. We are our own worse critics. Most people or too rapped up in their own lives to be interested in judging us.
Gayle

It's true.

I had an audition the other day and I swear it was the worst one I'd had in quite a while but the conductor, the concertmaster, and the principal of my section (who were the judges) were impressed so I got in.

I of course thanked them for their praise, but inside my head I'm thinking "Were we at the same audition?"

Story of my life.

As Gayle pointed out...

...The harsh inner critic is, to some extent, a symptom of being self-centered (not as in "egotistic and selfish" but in the literal sense of the word). Other people do not judge us as much because they are busy with their own stuff (some, to the point of being pre-occupied). They are not "centered" on us, so they do not judge as harshly.

I need to be super aware of my thoughts if I am doing this. I think I somehow project my judgement on to other people.

For example - my boyfriend did something wrong, I thought just in my head that he was useless. Not 30 seconds later he tells me he is useless and a terrible boyfriend for not doing the correct thing. The correct thing was not a big deal (something as simple as leaving the oven on or forgetting the milk) and when he tells me that I realise how judgemental and unhelpful my thought was. I never voiced this thought but he seems to know what I am thinking and I worry with my warped negative thinking that he might start to think like that too.