Ditch the Negative Self Talk

In this week's challenge you must Ditch the Negative Self Talk .Consistently telling yourself reasons why you can’t do something, don’t deserve something, or will never achieve something are never going to get you where you want to be. Ditch the negative self talk and start creating new messages instead. When you change your mindset, you have the power to change your life. This is one of the most overlooked, yet most important things, that everyone can do for better mood and mental health daily.

Negative consequences of negative self-talk:

1. Limited thinking

   You tell yourself you can't do something, and the more you hear it, the more you believe it.



2. Perfectionism

   You begin to really believe that "great" isn't as good as "perfect," and that perfection is actually attainable. (In contrast, mere high achievers tend to do better than their perfectionistic counterparts because they generally less stressed and are happy with a job well-done rather than picking it apart and zeroing in on what could have been better.



3. Feelings of depression

   Some research has shown that negative self-talk can lead to an exacerbation of feelings of depression. If left unchecked, this could be quite damaging.



4. Relationship challenges

   Whether the constant self-criticism makes you seem needy and insecure or you turn your negative self-talk into more general negative habits that bother others, a lack of communication and even a "playful" amount of criticism can take a toll.

Ways to reduce the self-talk in your daily life:

1. Catch Your Critic

   Learn to notice when you're being self-critical so you can begin to stop. For example, notice when you say things to yourself that you wouldn't say to a good friend or a child.



2. Remember That Thoughts and Feelings Aren't Always Reality

   Thinking negative things about yourself may feel like astute observations, but your thoughts and feelings about yourself can definitely not be considered accurate information. Your thoughts can be skewed like everyone else's, subject to biases and the influence of your moods.



3. Change Negativity to Neutrality

   When engaging in negative self-talk, you may be able to catch yourself, but it can sometimes be difficult to force yourself to stop a train of thought in its tracks. It's often far easier to change the intensity of your language. "I can't stand this" becomes, "This is challenging." "I hate..." becomes, "I don't like..." and even, "I don't prefer..." When your self-talk uses more gentle language, much of its negative power is muted as well.



4. Stop That Thought

   or some, simply stopping negative thoughts in their tracks can be helpful. This, unsurprisingly, is known as "thought-stopping" and can take the form of snapping a rubber band on your wrist, visualizing a stop sign, or simply changing to another thought when a negative train of thought enters your mind. This can be helpful with repetitive or extremely critical thoughts like, "I'm no good," or, "I'll never be able to do this,"



5. Replace the Bad With Some Good

   This is one of the best routes to combating negative self-talk: replacing it with something better. Take a negative thought and change it to something encouraging that's also accurate. Repeat until you find yourself needing to do it less and less often. This works well with most bad habits: replacing unhealthy food with healthy food, for example, and it's a great way to develop a more positive way of thinking about yourself and about life.

Suggested Reading:

Importance of Thinking- Learn more here.

How to keep mind steady in business - Learn more here.

Develop the Positive Self Talk Habit! - Learn more here.