Quiet your inner critic. Your inner critic is self-defeating or exaggerated thoughts that keep your feelings of depression and anxiety at large. Your inner critic may say things like “I’m a failure” or “There is nothing I can do, and I’m stuck.” Your inner critic may also latch onto one of your worries or thoughts that cause anxiety and then cause a snowball effect of more and more worrisome thoughts. Thoughts such as these keep you from being able to see choices in your life, make you feel incapable or stuck, or perpetuate worries, depression, or anxiety.