Give your inner critic a job description: point out fixes, not insults. Fire it if it can’t follow that.

The critical voice is only useful when it is specific. There is a real difference between noticing that a paragraph is unclear and concluding that you are hopeless, and only one of those leaves you with something to do. The insulting version feels productive because it hurts, and pain gets mistaken for rigour. It is not rigour. It is noise in a stern tone.

When the voice starts up, ask what the actionable version of the complaint would be. If no fix is in there, it is not feedback, and you can put it down.