Be Careful What You Say: The Effects Of Negative Self-Talk & How To Overcome It

. For example, if you are about to meet someone new and a friend tells you that that person is conniving and likes to gossip, chances are you will be predisposed to the idea that this person is conniving without formulating your own opinion, based on that person’s actions, first. From that point forward you will take each thing that person says with a grain of salt and watch what you say around them, assuming they are untrustworthy because they were labeled with a specific word. Now, what happens when you speak negative words to yourself? Do you ever look in the mirror and call yourself ugly? Do you ever mess something up and say under your breath, you stupid idiot! Do you ever have an awkward exchange with someone, walk away, and mentally berate yourself about it? Think about how much these negative words can actually affect you. Words carry energy and vibration, just like anything else, and if everybody realized how much power words actually had, they would never speak another negative word about themselves or give power to another negative thought again. Talking down to yourself is a very common thing to do. You may not even realize that you are doing it half the time, because it happens so easily and so often. Negative self-talk can take many forms: Things just always go wrong for me; I’m unlucky I could never do that I’m too old to learn a new language/skill/job I have a terrible memory I’m not good at art/sports/math I’m just not a very creative person I’m ugly The examples listed above are all forms of negative self-talk, and you’d better believe that each one of those statements carries energy behind it.

The more you say things like this, the more you embody what you are saying and buy into the idea that you are those things, when they are, in fact, only thoughts that you have chosen to give power to. In reality, you can do anything you want, so long as you believe you can. First of all, you have to recognize this is something that is affecting your life in a negative way and have the desire to break this habit – that’s all it is, a bad habit. Be aware that it may take a while, however, because chances are, you’ve been doing this to yourself for many years. Of course, it is inevitable that negative thoughts will pass through your mind on occasion, but the goal in breaking this cycle is to ensure you are having more positive thoughts and saying more positive things about yourself than negative. When you catch yourself mumbling something negative to yourself, stop the thought in its tracks and laugh off whatever the situation was that made you think that thought in the first place. Chances are, a little shift in perspective will make the situation seem far less dire. Notice the thoughts you are having and try to see them from an observer’s perspective; ask yourself why you are thinking it and if you can see it in a different, more positive light. When you wake up in the morning and find yourself in front of a mirror, take a moment to smile at yourself and say something positive. You may feel like this is difficult to do at the beginning, even silly, but the more you do it, the more natural it will start to become, because you will actually start to believe it. For negative things that you regularly tell yourself, turn these messages on their head by writing them down and creating a list of more positive replacements. For example, You stupid idiot! You are always screwing something up! can become, I always try to do my best, I am human, I make mistakes like everyone else. I trust myself and my abilities.

The more you do this, the easier it will become. Practicing this regularly will bring you closer to inner-peace and self-love! Much Love .

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