Negative Talk
Let's talk about negative self-talk. What is it and how can it be changed? First off, we can all change. Don't let anyone ever tell you that it can't happen. Anyone that says you can't change has a fixed mindset and THEY can't change. (and that is their choice, a sad one, but their choice to make) When you are looking to change, you are looking to grow, which is a growth mindset. In recent years we have discovered so much about the brain through neuroscience. It is funny, because the more I learn about this science, the more I see how God has taught us this in the Bible. There are also many ancient manuscripts that talk about the power of the mind and how to harness it or use it to it's fullest potential. (well, as much as we know up to this point!) Never does it say in these writings to be mean or hurtful to yourself, quite the contrary, be kind. Love yourself! For some reason a lot of Christians seem to believe that humility and negative self-talk are the same thing. No, no, no! I can't say "no" enough to this. It is 100% not the same thing! The definition of humble is "having a modest estimate of one's own importance". It is not self-deprecation. It is knowing that you are not always the most important person in the room. There is always someone smarter, faster, richer, and better than you. It is a fact of life, but that doesn't mean we should feel less than.
Now how can we help ourselves to feel better? There are times when we self-sabotage. We put the negative thought into our head before something has already happened. An example of this is, "don't fall off the beam", or "don't drop the football", or "don't fall running". These are all thoughts you are implanting into your subconscious. Did you know that your subconscious doesn't know the difference between what is real and imagined? That is why when you see a scary movie, your mind can "play tricks on you". It really doesn't know the difference. So when you say don't do something, it thinks you have done it. In essence, you are tricking your mind into thinking those thoughts. Just as you can trick it into negative thoughts, you can trick it into positive thoughts. Let's reverse the statements I just wrote. "Don't fall off the beam" can be turned into "stay on the beam". You are telling your mind you WILL stay on the beam. "Don't drop the football", into "I will keep carrying the football". "Don't fall running" into "I am a great runner". See how easy it is? Start putting your positive self-talk into practice. You can use this for every day things too! Try it in your life. One of my personal favorite things to say to myself, I am a great mom and I am making the best decisions possible for my kids and my family. I could just as easily say "I am a horrible mom and I make the WORST decisions". Seriously, what good does that do for anyone?
I would love to hear from you and what you think of positive self-talk. What have you said in your life lately that you can turn around to a positive statement? Don't be shy, you can do it!! I believe in you and you will soon too.