One of the most critical mindset shifts you can make in your life is to decrease negative self-talk. Although everyone seems to understand the importance of this shift, most people still struggle with it.
Negative, destructive self-talk disrupts your productivity and life goals. You have countless negative conversations happening inside your head throughout your day, and these negative statements can leave you feeling frustrated, angry, defeated, or depressed.
It is normal to want to solve your problems, but self-criticism doesn’t help.
If you catch yourself engaging in this type of negative self-talk, you can learn how to quickly switch gears and redirect your thoughts to more positive ones.
This process can take practice, but you will notice a positive difference in your thoughts and mindset if you try a little each day.
So what can you do starting today to help halt negative self-talk? These tips will help:
Take a Deep Breath
People resort to beating themselves up because they feel overwhelmed, have too much to do, or don’t know how to change their thoughts. If this is you, take a deep breath.
● It helps you momentarily slow down your thought process and realize that you are not in a position to change everything. Instead of thinking about how you can change your circumstances, try to focus on the things you can control at this moment.
Acknowledge Your Thoughts
Regardless of your negative self-talk stage, it’s important to acknowledge it. It’s very natural to have negative thoughts. However, many people do not even realize that they are having negative thoughts because those thoughts are so automatic. Try not to ignore them. Instead, take them as a signal from your mind that change is needed.
● For example, if you’re feeling defeated, allow yourself to take a moment to give in to those feelings and realize that it’s normal to feel disappointed at times. But maybe you’re also telling yourself, “I suck at everything.” That thought definitely isn’t true and isn’t serving you in the least.
Consciously Work to Silence Your Thoughts
Your mind can power through negative thoughts by itself, but your mind doesn’t want to. You have to give it a helping hand. When you notice you’re about to indulge in negative self-talk, make an effort to change course. Consciously let the thoughts pass. You might simply observe them like you’d observe clouds passing in the sky. “Oh, there’s a thought,” you could say to yourself. Try to disentangle YOU from your thoughts. They’re not the same. The more you practice this, the better you’ll get at controlling your negative thinking.
Your mindset is the driving force behind all of your actions, so it’s imperative to learn how to shift your thoughts when negative self-talk begins. You have the power to change your life by changing the way you think about yourself. To learn more about how to do this work with the help and guidance of a doctor (me!), contact me here.
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