By Madison Reynolds, LCMHCA
How do you talk to yourself? Do you speak kindly or harshly? How someone speaks to themselves can have a huge impact on their mental health and overall well-being. Here are 4 tools to learn more about positive self-talk and ways to incorporate healthy self-talk in your daily routine.
Negative vs. Positive:
Negative self-talk can look like beating yourself up mentally with hurtful words or phrases such as “I’m not good enough” or “I can’t do anything right.” These words and phrases can play over and over in our minds, convincing us they are true. In reality, these are just thoughts and thoughts are not always true! These thoughts can spiral if something doesn't go as planned or if a task is completed wrong. Instead of letting the negative thoughts consume you, try looking at this as an opportunity for growth, and challenging the validity of those negative thoughts. Creating a growth mindset instead of a fixed mindset can slowly retrain your brain, creating new ways of thinking!
Positive self-talk can look like speaking kindly to yourself. Some positive self-talk examples are, “I am getting better each day” or “I am strong and confident.” Try making a list of a few positive self-talk phrases you can say to yourself each day. Speaking kindly to yourself can be a great way to boost mental health and confidence. It does take some repetition to get the hang of it. Additionally, positive self-talk is a form of self-compassion.
Impact of Positive Self-Talk:
There are many benefits from positively speaking to yourself. Research shows that positive self-talk can improve stress management, boost self-esteem, build confidence and more! Positive self-talk allows you to give yourself grace in difficult or challenging moments, thus building resiliency. This can take time, but the reward of positive self-talk is worth it!
TOOLS TO USE
Affirmations:
Positive affirmations are a great tool to use. Affirmations are words or sentences you say to yourself either out loud or in your head to remind yourself of your resiliency and your potential. Below is a list of some positive affirmations examples:
I can become anything I put my mind to;
I am strong;
My body is a vessel of wellness;
My mind is open to learning new things;
I can try my best each day;
I am resilient!
Mindfulness:
Mindfulness is another great tool to incorporate when engaging in positive self-talk. Mindfully using words and/or affirmations that you resonate with is huge! Because who wants to associate with affirmations/positive self-talk that doesn’t fit or makes sense to them? No one! Additionally, mindfulness is a gentle reminder as well to bring yourself back into the present moment if you feel yourself drifting into negative self-talk.
Important Note:
Lastly, speaking to yourself positively can be challenging and it’s okay if it takes you multiple times to bring yourself out of the negative self-talk headspace. Giving yourself grace along the way is important and change takes time but is always worth building a healthy and strong mindset to sustain you when adversity strikes. Please feel free to reach out if you need extra support. We are here to help at Patterson Psych Group!
Madison Reynolds, LCMHCA
Patterson Psych Group, PLLC
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