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.
(I was going to put a picture of Gollum here but why traumatize you?)
Now…I know this is gonna sound a little weird…
We all have our own "Gollum" when it comes to our 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 set boundaries.
And then there’s the “evil” voice… which whispers 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 extent to which you ignore or defeat this negative voice determines how satisfying and successful your career becomes.
So, how do we defeat our inner Gollum?
Here’s a few thoughts.
Recognize it's not really you
It helps to think of these negative thoughts as something separate from yourself. They aren’t "true." They’re just self-critical thoughts that pop into your head. You don’t need to understand exactly where they come from to acknowledge they're not helping you.
There’s an old saying: "Everyone has two wolves fighting inside them. One is good, one is bad. Which wolf wins? The one you feed."
In other words, give attention and credibility only to the thoughts that encourage you.
Notice the negativity clearly
We can’t defeat what we don’t notice. The tricky thing is, negative thoughts can disguise themselves as practical or even helpful advice:
You might say, "I'm just being realistic," when, in reality, it’s your inner “Gollum” trying to hold you back.
Or, say your goal is to speak up more in meetings: When you get a chance to speak up, a thought might pop up like, “Maybe I should wait until I’m more prepared.” Sounds fair. Or is it?
If these thoughts go against your goals, they're probably your inner Gollum talking.
If your intention is to become more sociable and network more, thoughts like:
😈 “They’re just gonna reject me.”
😈 “He’s gonna think I’m desperate.”
😈 “Uhhh, this is such a stupid idea.”
… are clearly negative and unhelpful.
Start consciously noticing these thoughts. When you catch yourself thinking negatively, pause and label it clearly: "That’s my Gollum talking."
Then, once you recognize the bad thoughts…
Call it out as a lie (out loud)
Noticing the negative thoughts isn't enough. You have to explicitly call them out. Whenever you catch your Gollum whispering doubts, simply 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.
Counter with evidence
Negative thoughts often rely on sweeping generalizations, like "I ALWAYS mess up presentations." Or "I’m NEVER going to get hired."
Here’s what I do.
Say I’m struggling to write one of these emails (happens way too often). My “Gollum” might say, “This essay sucks” or “ugggh is anyone even gonna read this.”
Lies! Just because I struggle to write one email doesn’t mean “I can’t write to save myself."
Then, I’ll try to counter with some evidence by thinking of good emails I DID write, then maybe read through nice replies/reviews. This way, I’m not just calling out lies, I’m feeding the good.
My recommendation is to do the same. 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.
Even LeBron James does this — he watches his old basketball highlights whenever he hits a slump and needs to ‘find his game’:
Add “yet”.
A very simple counter-attack is the word “yet”.
“I 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 a great way to reframe setbacks 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
Even Beyoncé, who commands massive stages effortlessly, described herself as naturally shy and introverted.
So how does she do it? She created an alter ego, Sasha Fierce. When she needs to perform, she "becomes" Sasha Fierce - her confident, fearless self. She basically says, "Alright, inner Gollum, BYE! Sasha's got this."
You can do the same. Identify one or two traits you admire but struggle to embody. Actually name it. Imagine what they'd do in your situation.
Would Badass Barbara second-guess her ideas in that meeting?
Would Confident Carl hesitate to ask for that raise?
It might feel weird at first, but there’s science that backs it up too. I wrote more about alter-egos here.
The only enemy you have to defeat
It’s easy to believe the main battles in our careers are external — with bosses, colleagues, or clients. But as the old African proverb says,
“When there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm.”
