Self-Talk is not something unknown or unversed for all of us!
This is what we commonly do throughout the day. Just like when you say to yourself- ‘Okay, you got this’, ‘You’re so stupid’, ‘Don’t embarrass yourself this time’ –you are talking to yourself!
Researchers have found that the way you talk to yourself is directly related to the direction you are compelling your mind to think in, which is responsible for how you perceive and react to things and daily life situations thereby forming your behaviour that ultimately becomes a part of your personality.
Let’s get deeper into what self-talk is all about:
Self-talk is the inner voice you usually don’t say out loud because it’s just a conversation with yourself. It’s like a personal internal narrative that goes on in your head about some decisions you’ve taken or are about to make, feedback on the way you behaved in front of someone etc.,
Now, let’s jump on to what exactly is ‘Positive Self Talk’?
By taking your example think how many times have you actually told yourself the following?
- I can do this
- I am worthy of it
- I can do better next time
- I can learn from my mistakes
- I am capable of performing any task that I wish to carry out
If you do this ‘mostly’ then what you practice is ‘Positive Self-Talk’.
Although it’s rare that we actually try to cheer and motivate ourselves up. What we usually do is criticize ourselves for not doing things right, for not being good enough or merely for just being ourselves, this is what is known as ‘Negative Self-Talk’.
It’s a common practice of the people of the Solomon Islands that “If a tree needs to be cut down and it is too big to be knocked off, it is brought down by the mutual efforts of the people of the island by criticizing and yelling at the tree. This gathers a lot of negative energy which somehow damages the tree’s life. As a result of which, within a month the tree dies and tumbles down to the ground!”
You can now imagine what kind of effect criticism would have on the human mind. A criticism that is coming from yourself for yourself.
Positive self-talk is not boasting about yourself or being delusional about your strengths and weaknesses rather it’s just a way of showing self-compassion, understanding yourself, accepting your flaws and loving yourself the way you are because if you will not understand and believe in yourself then who else will?
6 DAILY REMINDERS TO KEEP YOURSELF GOING:
- Today is my day.
- I am capable of achieving my dreams, and nothing can stop me.
- No matter what happens, I’ll try to always look on the brighter side.
- I’m going to be kind to myself.
- I’ll never give up.
- It’s okay if I couldn’t make it happen today, I’ll try again tomorrow.
Your mind will always believe everything you tell it. So, feed it with care, feed it love and feed it hope!
