What damage is negative self talk doing?

How often have you berated yourself for doing or saying something wrong? How often have you said “It will never work” or “It’s no use” or “Why do I bother?”…?

I know I’m guilty of it, and I’m yet to meet anybody who has not done this on occasion.

But what is negative self talk really doing to you?  Can it really be affecting the results you’re getting in life?

You bet it is!

Negative self talk is what happens before you find yourself in the “pit of despair”, or those times in your life where you just feel down, so you should consider this type of talk as a red flag.

So why is negative self talk a red flag?

Negative self talk is a red flag because it shows you very clearly where you’re headed.  If you let this self talk continue, you’re starting on a downward spiral until you find yourself feeling just plain “yuck”.

And what damage does this cause?  Well, if you do enough of this, you could find yourself slipping into depression!  If not that serious, it really can affect the results you’re getting in life.  Negative self talk is damaging and does you no good whatsoever!

So what can you do about it?

Well, the first thing you can do is to identify it as it happens.  As soon as you find yourself thinking negatively, stop yourself and see it for what it is – a red flag!

Next, turn these thoughts around, and here’s a few ways in which you can do this:

• If you’re saying something like “I’ll never be able to do that…”, ask yourself why not? Why can’t you do that?  What makes you so special?  Why can somebody else do it?  What’s stopping you being able to do that?
• What if you’re calling yourself every name under the sun?  Turn this around by accepting that you may have made a mistake and that you’re not the very first person in the world to do so, and what gives you the right to say these things?  If your best friend made the same mistake, would you call them all these names?  You’re HUMAN and you are allowed to make mistakes!  So think about what you can learn from what you’ve done – make the mistake worth it!
• Did you recently have a relationship end, or is your relationship on the rocks?  Now is the time to focus on YOU!  You deserve to be loved and cherished, no matter what.  If you made mistakes, learn from them and become a better and more understanding person.  If your partner cannot love you for who you are (mistakes and all), then do they really deserve you?  If you were recently dumped, then all you have lost is somebody who didn’t want you there in the first place.  That’s kind of like “losing” a serious disease! You don’t need disease do you?  You don’t need a relationship with somebody who doesn’t want to be with you either!

These are just a few examples of how you can turn this negative self talk around.

Do what you can to focus on the positive aspects of every sitaution.  Stop when you find your mind doing the negative self talk thing, and turn it into something positive.

Make the choice to look at the bright side of life – it’s a great place to be!