In The Lord of the Rings, there’s a creature called “Gollum” who has two personalities:
An “evil” version (called Gollum), who will stop at nothing to get the Ring, and a “good” version (called Smeagol), who wants to be free from the Ring’s power, and live a normal life. In the movie, you see the two battling it out in pretty dramatic fashion.
Now…
I know this is gonna sound a little weird…
(And maybe I’m just projecting)...
But I think Gollum’s not too dissimilar to what people deal with in their careers.
We have a “good” voice inside us.. that pushes us to apply for challenging jobs, send out cold emails, publish Linkedin content, go for promotions and sets boundaries.
And then there’s the “evil” voice… which says things like:
- 😈 Why on Earth would anyone want to hire you?
- 😈 You don’t deserve a raise so why ask?
- 😈 No one’s gonna read your content, it’s so cringe!
- 😈 You’re only gonna fail miserably and look stupid - what’s the point in applying?
And imo?
The degree to which you ignore / defeat / proceed-in-spite-of this voice will determine how satisfying & successful your career is.
So, how do we defeat our inner Gollum?
Here’s a few thoughts.
🥷🏿 The evil voice isn’t you!
I’m not a neuro-scientist, so I don’t really know where these thoughts come from, but what helps me is thinking, “These negative thoughts aren’t my own.”
Again, I don’t know if that’s true…
But intuitively, I do think there’s a negative force that wants us to fail (countered by the positive force that wants us to succeed).
Our job?
To ignore the negative, and grow the positive.
It’s kinda like the Native American tradition that says, “Everyone has a good wolf and a bad wolf on their shoulders. Which wolf grows? The one that you feed.”
〰 Start noticing
We can’t fight an enemy we can’t see, so before we defeat / ignore the negative voice, we need to start noticing when it’s speaking.
But that’s tricky:
Our negative thoughts can sneak in disguised as practical advice or even good intentions. For example, you might think, "I’m just being realistic" when, in reality, it’s your inner “Gollum” trying to hold you back.
Or, let’s say your goal is to speak up more in meetings. A thought might pop up like, “Maybe I should wait until I’m more prepared.” Sounds fair. Or is it?
So how do you tell the difference?
Simple:
Any thought that isn’t aligned with your intention is from your “Gollum”.
Let’s say your intention is to become more sociable and network more. Any thought that runs counter to that, like:
- 😈 “They’re just gonna reject me.”
- 😈 “He’s gonna think I’m desperate.”
- 😈 “Uhhh, this is such a stupid idea.”
… are from your “bad wolf”.
The key is to become conscious of these thoughts. Start paying attention to your inner dialogue. When you catch yourself thinking negatively, pause and ask: "Is this my Gollum talking?"
Then, once you recognize the bad thoughts…
🙅♂️ “That’s a lie”
Noticing the two forces isn’t enough - you’ve got to feed the good voice, and starve the bad.
How?
Try this:
Every time you get a thought from your “Gollum” or “evil wolf”, say out loud,
“That’s a lie.”
(Because it is).
Repeat this throughout the day, 10, 20, 30 times. Keep a notebook, perhaps, and put a tally mark everytime you say it. Try to root out 5 lies in your thinking per day.
Then…
🤛🏻 Counter with evidence
The most common lies are sweeping generalizations.
Here’s a personal example:
Sometimes, when I’m struggling to write one of these emails, my “Gollum” says, “I suck at this” or “ugggh is anyone even gonna read this” Or, I introduce myself to someone, the convo isn’t very smooth, and the voice says, “You always mess up.”
Lies!
Just because I struggle to write one email doesn’t mean “I can’t write to save myself", and just because one conversation was a bit bumpy, doesn’t mean “I always mess up.”
So, after I notice, I’ll often counter with some evidence by thinking of good emails I DID write, and all the people I DID have smooth conversations with.
This way, I’m not just calling out lies…
I’m feeding the good!
Pro tip: Keep a "brag doc". Save emails where people say good things about you. Or write down your wins somewhere. When your inner Gollum starts lying, pull out that doc and remind yourself that you’ve done it before — it really does work. I wrote about this on LinkedIn here.
And finally….
🔜 Add “yet”.
A very simple counter-attack is the word “yet”.
“You can’t do this.”
→ “ I can’t do this yet.”
“I’ve got no idea what to do.”
→ “I don’t know what to do yet.”
Don’t dismiss it. This tiny three-letter word is the difference between feeding the good wolf and feeding the bad.
It's also a great way to reframe failures as lessons. Instead of "That presentation was a disaster," try "That presentation didn't go as planned, but now I know how to better prep next time."
🐝 You're in good company
Think this inner battle is just you? Nope.
Even Beyoncé, queen of confidence on stage, deals with this crap.
Her solution? She created an alter ego called Sasha Fierce.
When she needs to perform, she "becomes" Sasha Fierce - her confident, fearless self. It's like she's saying, "Alright, inner Gollum, BYE! Sasha's got this."
Create your own alter ego. Give it a name. Imagine what they'd do in your situation.
Would Confident Carl hesitate to ask for that raise?
Would Badass Barbara second-guess her ideas in that meeting?
It might feel silly at first, but hey - if it works for Beyoncé, it might just work for you too :’)
🫵 The only enemy you have to defeat
As a thought to leave you with, we often get caught fighting external battles, with clients, bosses, colleagues and spouses.
But as the old African proverb says,
“When there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm.”
