Word Of the Week #568: Self-Talk
June 24, 2015 by Susan Clarke
Self-Talk – the positive and negative thoughts you feed yourself daily.
Have you ever thought about what percentage of your “self-talk” is positive? Have you ever expressed an idea that you thought was good and then talked yourself out of it? Or worse yet, have a friend or family member do that for you?
This word came up for me this week as I reflected on the last two WOWS’. Do you believe that you can control your luck? Do you believe you can make it more likely good things will happen to you by what you think and say?
I know from experience that “what you think about, you bring about.” I can’t tell you how many times I hear people make negative statements about themselves like “I am terrible when it comes to remembering people’s names” or “I’m not lucky. I never win anything.” I hear this often after I have just won something. I walk into events planning on winning. I wake up every day and say, “I wonder what wonderful thing will happen to me today?” Do you do that? If you do, I bet you’re lucky like me too!
Everything you say to yourself whether aloud or silent, gets reinforced in your brain. Pretty much, “If you think you can, you can” and vice versa. I have worked with numerous clients that talk about wanting their life to be different. And when I ask them what it is they want, they tell me what they don’t want. And by doing that, they reinforce it, and they continue to get what they don’t want.
I found this on REACHOUT.com. “Self-talk is basically your inner voice, the voice in your mind which says things that you don’t necessarily say out loud. Often self-talk happens without you even realising it and can be a subtle running commentary going on in the background of your mind. But what you say in your mind can determine a lot of how you feel about who you are.
There are three things you can do that can help with changing the direction of your self-talk.
- Listen to what you’re saying to yourself – We don’t always consciously take note of what we’re saying in our minds.
- Monitor your self-talk – Is it more positive or negative? Is there actual evidence for what you’re thinking? What would you say if a friend were in a similar situation?
- Change your self-talk – Easier said than done, but definitely worth working on. Catch yourself by countering your negative thoughts with positive ones.
This week’s focus is on your “self talk.” What thoughts are you reinforcing? How easy would it be for you to turn a negative thought into a positive one? Do you believe that you deserve to achieve wonderful things in your life? Are you ready for that to start happening now?
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