Of course there must be a place for self-criticism and analysis, because it drives understanding and improvement. There is a time and place for it and but it’s not while one performs, whether that’s writing or making music or playing basketball. Letting the DMN comment while one performs, in my view, doesn’t lead to anything good.
Many times I improvise melodies for a piece I am working on and I even resist analyzing it after the performance. I walk away, leave the studio, and return the next day. Stuff that I thought wasn’t very good often turns out to be the best material and melodies that I liked right away don’t hold up the next day.
How do you make an honest assessment or analysis of your own performance? I suppose you listen to recordings of yourself.
Do you play basketball? :-)
Any assessment is based on one’s knowledge and ability at the time of the analysis. That knowledge and ability continues to change and thus the assessment changes. It’s important to be able to criticize one’s own work, just not during the performance. :-)
I played in a basketball club when I was a teenager and still enjoy shooting hoops now and then. I do think that basketball players, especially long-range shooters like Curry or Thompson, probably have to deal with their DMN voice. The mental part of that game is huge.