Banish the Lies: Outsmart Your Inner Critic
Banish the Lies is a podcast for women who overthink, self-sabotage, and secretly feel stuck, even when life looks “together” on the outside.
Each week, host Tania Cervoni explores the quiet fears and false stories that shape how we see ourselves, lies like “you’ll never be enough” or “if it’s not perfect, it doesn’t count.” Through honest reflection, lived experience, and simple mindset shifts, she invites you to loosen your grip on fear, soften perfectionism, and step out of performance.
You’ll hear conversations about identity, self-trust, and what it actually looks like to live from truth instead of fear, with practical ways to quiet self-doubt and return to what matters.
Because healing doesn’t mean fixing who you are. It means remembering you were never broken.
Thanks for listening to Banish the Lies.
If something in this episode resonated and you want to talk about it, connect with me on Instagram at @taniacervoni_
Banish the Lies: Outsmart Your Inner Critic
Monday Moment: When Things Aren’t Going Right, Go Left
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In today’s Monday Moment, Tania does something a little different.
She shares a children’s story that made this adult pause and reflect.
When Things Aren’t Going Right, Go Left by Marc Colagiovanni, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds, tells a simple, playful story about setting down worries, doubts, fears, and frustrations — and choosing a different direction when the inner voice insists the “responsible” thing to do is brace, worry, or stay alert.
As Tania reads this story, she reflects on how often the inner critic convinces us that focusing on what could go wrong is the safest move. And yet, this story offers a gentler invitation: sometimes the bravest thing we can do is go left instead.
If your inner voice has been loud lately — pulling you toward fear, doubt, or worry — consider this a quiet nudge to try a different direction. Even if only for today.
Book links:
When Things Aren’t Going Right, Go Left (Amazon):
https://a.co/d/g2Z4obm
Illustrator Peter H. Reynolds / Blue Bunny Books:
The Blue Bunny Books & Toys
With gratitude to Marc Colagiovanni for generously granting permission to share this story.
Hello, friend, and welcome to today's Monday moment. Today I want to do something a little bit different. A friend of mine who's an elementary school teacher, talked to me about this story. She read her class, and as she was describing it, I thought, I really want to get my hands on this storybook, and I want to share it with all of you. Now, full transparency. My inner critic did make an appearance and was like, seriously, you're going to read a kid's Storybook on your podcast, and in that moment I thought, wow, what a perfect banish the lies opportunity. I can either let all of my concerns stop me, or I can trust my inspiration and trust that you will see in it what I did. So here we go. The book is called When Things Aren't Going Right, go Left. The author kindly gave me permission to read it here, and I'll include a link to the book in the show notes if you'd like to pick up a copy for yourself. As you listen, I trust that it's going to be apparent why I wanted to share this, and I simply invite you to sit back. Take a Monday moment, deep breath, maybe a sip of coffee, and just notice what it brings up for you when things aren't going right. Go left. One day, For no particular reason, nothing was going right. Absolutely positively, nothing was going right, so I decided to go left. The first thing I did. I left behind. My worries. Yep. I left them right there on the ground. They looked up at me and wondered, where are you going? But I just smiled and waved. Goodbye. Wait, they hollered, come back. What will happen to us? I simply shrugged my shoulders. You'll be fine. As I walked away, I thought, did I make the right choice? Should I go back and get them? Doubts crept in. So you know what I did? I left behind my doubts. Yep. I left them right there on the ground. They bellowed, you're making a mistake, but I just gazed at the sky. They questioned. Are you sure you're making the right decision? Absolutely. I declared and with my worries and doubts left behind, I could finally think clearly. I forged on until I came to a pool and a diving board. I remembered all too well. The last time I tried to dive off that diving board, I splatted on my back. Ouch. I remembered the pain and how scared I was. I started thinking, maybe I shouldn't try this again. So, you know what I did? I left behind my fears. Yep. I left them right there on the ground. They screamed. Don't do it. I stood up straight, shoulders back, hands pressed above my head. Stop. They cried, but I simply turned and gave them a wink. I leaped splat on my back once again, oof that stings. I thought to myself, this is impossible. It can't be done. So you know what I did? I left behind my frustrations. Yep. I left them right there on the ground. They yelled, you can't do it again. I stood up straight, shoulders, back, hands pressed above my head. They laughed. Give up already. I whispered to myself. No way. Never. I leaped feet together, toes pointed, legs straight. Perfect. I did it. I started to realize the more left I went, the more right I felt. So you know what I did? Yep. I kept going left, and before I knew it, everything was going right. As I walked home, I glanced at the ground and I noticed something I didn't expect. My frustrations were a lot smaller, my fears a lot quieter. My doubts a lot calmer. My worries practically gone, so I decided to pick them back up and you know what? They felt lighter now and they weren't so hard to handle anymore, and I realized it was okay to have them with me so long as I kept an eye on them. It made sure they didn't get too big or too loud or too overwhelming, but if they did and I felt like nothing was going right again, then I'd simply go left. And a final note from the author, when life's burdens start to feel too heavy, don't be afraid to put them down for a while. Marc Colagiovanni. I think what I love about this book most is just the fun and playful way it can share a really important message. And that is essentially to challenge what we often think is the most responsible move. You know, so often that inner voice tells us that the right thing to do is to focus on our problems, to focus on what could go wrong, to worry, to brace, to stay alert. And of course, that sounds so sensible, but maybe sometimes the invitation is simply to go left. So if your inner voice is pulling you towards fear or doubt or worry today, then consider this a quiet nudge to try a different direction. If only for today. Have a great one. Cheers.