"Whether You Think You Can or Can't, You're Right."
--Henry Ford
You may not realize how often you say negative things in your head, or how much it affects your experience but altering your self-talk can have a tremendous positive impact on all aspects of your life. Try the following strategies to help you become more conscious of your self-talk.
Write in a Journal! Putting to pen a general overview of your thoughts or writing down how you feel and then reviewing the contents later can help you see patterns of defeating self-talk.
Karate Chop Your Thought! The next time you notice yourself saying something negative in your mind, you can stop your thought by saying to yourself “Stop” or by doing what I like to do..... and Karate Kick the thought! Its true. In my mind I visually kick the thought away. I began using this tool when I was a kickboxing instructor but you can find something that works for you. Get creative! Find something you identify with.... Chef Emeril would probably say “Bam!” Then try and replace the negative thought with something positive.
Replace Negative Statements with Milder Wording: As a personal trainer I like to use the word ‘discomfort’ instead of ‘pain’. I do this because ‘pain’ is a much more powerful word, and discussing your ‘pain’ level can actually make your experience of it more intense than if you’re discussing your ‘discomfort’ level.
Turning more powerful negative words to more neutral ones can actually help neutralize your experience. I don’t allow my 7-year-old daughter to say the word ‘hate’ or ‘stupid’. Instead we use ‘dislike’ and ‘not so smart!’ I try and practice what I preach, so instead of, “I hate traffic! It makes me so angry” I say, “I don’t like traffic. It annoys me.” It really helps during times of high stress.
Change Self-Limiting Statements to Questions: Self-limiting statements like “I can’t handle this!” or “This is impossible!” increase your stress in a given situation and they prevent you from searching for solutions. Instead turn the limiting statement into a question. “How can I handle this?” or “How can I make this possible?” This will open up your imagination to new possibilities? You may even want to grab a pen and paper and write down anything that comes to mind. Without being critical let your ideas flow and a solution will most likely present itself.
