Stop Your Negative Self-Talk
It’s another Mental Health Awareness Month and I spent most of the month feeling so uncreative I couldn’t think of anything to write. Even though I write about mental health all year long, I like to get a post up during the month of May to help spread awareness.
It’s important to me to spread awareness and advocate for mental health. And I’m so grateful you’re here supporting the cause!
On Instagram, I’ve been talking a lot about self-trust. The more you trust yourself, the more confident you are. But have you noticed that you don’t trust yourself because you think you’re not good enough? Or that you say you aren’t good at making decisions? Or maybe you tell yourself that you’re gonna do it wrong anyway so why even bother?
These thoughts aka the things you’re telling yourself are definitely not helping you. So, here are three simple shifts to keep your self-talk from being negative:
1. Stop your thought and correct it: Literally pause and tell yourself that the thought isn’t true.
Then tell yourself something that is true.
Basic example – You notice yourself thinking “I can’t do that.” Stop the thought, pause and tell yourself “That’s not true. I can figure that out. I always do.”
2. Give your subconscious mind proof: It’s your subconscious mind that you’re always fighting when it comes to mindset. Its job is to keep you safe. So, when you have a goal you’ve never accomplished before or want to try something new – your subconscious stops you because it seems like a risk. And a risk isn’t safe! It also keeps going back to old thoughts and patterns because, again, that’s safe.
The more your subconscious sees something happening the more it believes it to be true and therefore doesn’t need to protect you from it. So, showing examples gives it proof that the thing you want or the positive thoughts are safe.
Basic example – You think you’re always late. Start celebrating and noting when you’re not late. Even if it’s just saying out loud to yourself “hey, I was early to this appointment!”. This gives your subconscious proof that you’re not always late.
3. Gratitude and awareness of the positive things: Focus on positive things. This is by no means a toxic positivity thing. But, it is proven that what we think of we notice more of. So, if you focus on things you like about yourself or things that are going well – you’ll notice more of those things.
Sure, it was easy to list 3 ways to shift your self-talk but I know it’s not actually easy to do. Like with so many things in life, you’ll get better at this the more you practice. Start by noticing the things you tell yourself. Then try one of the shifts I shared. Next time, add another shift and so on.
These are the exact mindset shifts we work through when you work with me inside of Becoming Her – my private 1:1 coaching space to rebuild self-trust, set boundaries, and become the woman you actually want to be. See more about that offer here. Or email me with any questions.
Self-talk affects your mindset and that plays a role in the state of your mental health. I hope these shifts are helpful and you start to have more positive self-talk and feel more confident!
If you or someone you know needs mental health support, please contact the 988 Lifeline by calling or texting 988.
You are not alone. You are loved.
