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“You are not good enough.”

“Your editor hates your work.”

“Doesn’t matter how hard you try, you will never succeed.”

Do you recognise yourself in one of these three (or maybe all three, if you are a writer), I will admit,  quite harsh statements?

If you do, we have a few things in common: welcome to your inner critic, he or she is trying to auto-sabotage you and chances are they are doing a pretty good job. Truth is we all have a strong inner critic that from time to time (personally when an assignment deadline is dooming) knocks down our confidence walls and grabs the mic. Not sure how you feel about that but personally, in my brain, I would rather have the mic all to myself. Amy Holland calls her inner critic Sandra (for some reason, I think mine is a Rebecca) and in our interview today, she shares her ups and down that led to the creation of I Can Cards®, a Welsh business that thanks to its positive affirmations cards brings a little light into your day.

Apparently, doing something as small as reading positive affirmations on a daily basis has a powerful effect to help with your day and, almost, retrain your brain into embracing a more positive outlook in life, halting self-damaging and negative language. “Small but mighty”, these cards try to give you the right motivation and reassurance you need to go through life’s many and different turns and curves.

We have picked our favourites from Amy’s Instagram, they have been spread all over our article so that you too can enjoy the positivity that comes from her affirmation cards.

It’s a pleasure for me to introduce you to Amy Holland, founder of  I Can Cards®

*She is allowed to take the mic

Why did you start I Can Cards®?

I started I Can Cards as I found the power of positive affirmations meant that my rumination and negative thoughts disappeared. It was such a good resilience tool for me. But then the only affirmations I could find were quite long-winded or too cheesy. I wanted the affirmations to be around meaningful subjects like depression, anxiety and also female empowerment, that could be relatable as possible. When I had depression, I didn’t feel like anyone understood me so I wanted the cards to speak to people going through something similar and act as comfort and reassurance.

What’s your favourite I Can Cards® and why?

That’s like asking me to choose between my children, but I will! It changes all the time but ‘I can fill my day with love and kindness’ is a pretty badass one that I love, and be kind to your self. That’s my mantra that I mutter to myself. That and ‘Fuck off Sandra.’ Which is the name for my inner critic that I talk about a lot and use a lot.

Have you got a self-care routine you would like to share with our readers?

I’ve just started a morning ritual. So I wake up, usually by my children shouting ‘Mum’. Then I used to aimless scroll on Insta. So now I make a drink for everyone, including a hot cuppa for me, then I read an affirmation whilst the kettle is boiling. Then I have 5 minutes drinking the tea and reading a book, usually a self-help or non-fiction. My children have got used to this 5 minutes and I usually put a timer on the oven so that they know when it goes off they can go back to asking me 23643784746 questions and requests. But it sets me up for the day and reminds me that I am important too.

You also run Warrior Women. Can you tell us more about it and how all the warrior women in Cardiff can join?

Warrior Women Events are Cardiff based female empowerment events, where we have 3 thought-provoking and inspiring speakers around meaningful subjects. We wanted a space for just women to hear other women’s stories and journeys in a non-wanky way. There is also plenty of chances for networking and meeting like-minded women.
The next event is November 15th, and details can be found @warriorwomenevents
Thank you so much, Amy. Do you want to find out more about  I Can Cards®? Click 👇  NOW
Fancy having a chat? You can find us on Instagram (@squiggles_comms and annamaria_sgueglia ) and Twitter (@SquigglesBlogs).