Episode 16. Go Judgment Free
Have you ever thought of having a judgment-free day? No judging yourself and no judging others? Just taking everything in. In this episode, I’ll share more about this idea of going judgment-free.
Becoming more aware of the judgments I make has been an important part of my self-development. Thinking about this topic might help you in your journey too.
What is the difference between a judgment and an opinion?
To me, an opinion has evidence to support the idea. An opinion could be: your balance might be better if you shorten your stirrups. A judgment might be: your balance isn’t very good because your stirrups are too long or your balance sucks because you don’t have your stirrups adjusted correctly.
I have noticed that the more I judge myself and others, the more I worry about being judged. As I work on letting go of judgment, I worry less about others’ judgments. It is natural and human to make judgments. Every day, we are judging; we pick the best apples at the store, we assess whether or not we like a horse that’s listed for sale, we like and comment on social media posts. What has helped me is to avoid adding my opinion to a judgment. Instead, I try thinking isn’t that interesting. This is a more neutral idea and it doesn’t put me in the energy of judging.
It is okay to have different judgments and opinions. We don’t need to be upset by differing ideas. If you disagree with someone’s assessment of a situation, try thinking isn’t that interesting rather than making judgments about them or their ideas.
Notice when you make judgments. Try keeping a tally of how often you judge yourself or others. It can be surprising how much time you spend thinking those judgmental thoughts. And keep in mind, the more you are making judgments, the more likely you are to worry about what others are thinking about you. This can have really negative effects on your performance.
Once you notice the judgments you make, try to replace those thoughts with the idea isn’t that interesting. Spend less time judging others and spend more time being grateful. It’ll bring you into a much more positive energy, in and out of the arena.
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