Oh man - i'm so guilty, and almost too aware now....because then I beat myself up... for beating myself up again
I do think our negative self talk comes more from perfection issues than low self esteem at times. The low self esteem is the symptom I have always written off as not applying to me - if anything, I can be super egotistical at times - but that's probably my perfectionism talking.
I've worked consciously at identifying & correcting it when I see it in my life now & have definitely made some progress.
So is that perfectionism, ego, recovery, or just part of getting older?
I'd love to know when the natural urge to be better ends and somehow turns to an obsession with being better and subsequent negative self talk!
Either way, I think you're pretty great and I'm sure your unfiltered thoughts as they come will provide some amazing insight for your project!