“Hurry up! We’re behind! You need to do this faster!”
My friend Matthias was hopping around the table of snacks as I slowly cleaned up after an event.
“Seriously!” he continued. “This is unacceptable! I can’t believe you’re taking so long! There’s too much to do, go faster!!”
To my surprise, his heckling didn’t stress me.
Quite the opposite.
I smiled. I relaxed. I rolled my eyes at his urgency. I sorted the crackers into baggies and found the plastic wrap to cover the dips.
This job was gonna take as long as it was gonna take, and I was gonna do it beautifully.
There was no rush. We had plenty of time. We always do.
Wow.
If you’d ever spent 5 minutes in my head before that day, you’d have been shocked to hear the chill voice insisting all was well.
Usually, my inner narrative sounded exactly like the things Matthias was yelling: “Go go go! Faster! Not good enough!”
Heck, my most common recurring dream is that I’m packing up to leave somewhere and I’m behind and it won’t all fit.
But this is the magic of Takeovers.
Matthias wasn’t just being a jerk. He was doing me a favor.
As an exercise, he had agreed to take on the role of the Voice In My Head that’s always in a hurry.
And when he took it over—when the heckling moved outside my head instead of inside it—I got to relax.
It’s a strange phenomenon, but it works with all sorts of things.
Inner Critics. Physical strain. Doomsday Worries. Whatever some part of you is working hard at.
Let someone else take it on—preferably in an exaggerated way—and watch the relief flood in.
Maybe it’s the play.
Maybe it’s the disidentification — getting aware that the voice saying these things is not YOU.
Maybe it’s that the voice is getting SO listened to it gets to relax..
Whatever the mechanism, I promise, it works.
Bring a spirit of silliness to it. Let it get big.
And next time you’re worrying about something, ask someone else to take over the voice and watch the magic happen.
Relievingly yours,
Rachel
PS – I did a takeover with a client this week and we ended up laughing as she took a deeper breath. My Black Friday year-long portal offer is over, but I’m still taking new 1:1 clients for 2026. If this is your year to learn to outsmart your inner critic and amp up your resilience to meet whatever life is slinging your way, let’s talk. It starts with a free consultation. Hit reply if you’re interested!
PPS – Big thanks to my friends at the Light Dark Institute and to my pal Peter Benjamin who each taught me this technique in different ways.
