We all know our words are powerful. We can slice someone to pieces with just a few syllables. That\u2019s bad enough, but what happens when we turn that power on ourselves?<\/p>\n\n
As a young man, the writer Peter Leonard showed a short story to his famous father, novelist Elmore Leonard. Instead of encouraging his son, Elmore Leonard wrote a lengthy critique saying his characters were flat and lifeless.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t write another word of fiction for 27 years,\u201d Peter recalled<\/a>. But as sad as that story is, we do the same thing to ourselves, don\u2019t we?<\/p>\n How many potential writers, artists, athletes, speakers, and performers have chopped themselves off at the knees with self-criticism?<\/p>\n\t\t