The Power of Self-Talk: Training the Voice in Your Head to Be Good to You!
Pessimism hits all of us hard sometimes. Knowingly or unknowingly, we often let negativity take over our lives. It would be pretty hard to hash out our troubles with others though. A third person may not be able to relate to the thoughts and struggles populating your brain daily. To find the optimism in your pessimism, let us learn how self-talk can benefit you.
1. What Is Self-Talk?
Self-talk refers to the thoughts, ideas, queries, and beliefs that revolve around your subconscious mind. These can either be positive or negative. If you are someone who takes everything lightly and sportively, your self-talk is likely to be optimistic. On the other hand, if you are someone who doubts everything and has second thoughts, your self-talk is likely to be pessimistic. It is believed that optimists have a better life. However, if you seem to have more negative thoughts, it is better to tune those thoughts into positive ones.
2. Is Self-Talk Good for You?
Self-talk helps one to amplify their brain’s performance and well-being. It helps to have better cardiovascular health. By practicing self-talk, one can reduce the risk of death and improve immunity. People working in a stressful environment will surely need self-talk on a daily basis as it would help to lessen the stress caused mentally. Those who practice positive self-talk have benefited in problem-solving skills, tend to look at chaotic situations from a different perspective, and manage hardships with ease. Ergo, better mental health.
3. Are You a Negative Self-Talker?
Before you begin, it is necessary to understand what kind of self-talker you are. To identify negative self-talk, ask yourself – do you characterize yourself as the problem? If so, stop! When you are in a horrible situation, is your mind only focused on how it went wrong and never on how it could have been better if you had done it another way? In that case, you are magnifying the negativity and letting it win. Before something even happens, do you expect the worst? Once your mind is fixed on something, it is never possible for you to see the scenario otherwise. Turning every minor event into a major catastrophe will ensure you never see the light at the end of the tunnel.
4. How to Self-Talk on a Daily Basis?
Positive self-talk does not come naturally to everyone; it takes practice. If you are a negative self-talker – reverse your inner thoughts to seek a more positive vibe. Think about the good on your bad days. Never let one bad day negate the progress you made on your good days. Your ultimate motive is to stick to being optimistic on the harder days. Eventually, you will notice yourself growing calmer and more rational.
There is something to be said about all those eternally-smiling optimists. No, they were not born that way. They simply chose their priorities wisely. If you cannot beat it, do not join it. Just turn it around and be the boss.
