How powerful is self talk? What is meant by self talk? I remember reading a book many years ago called “What to say when you talk to yourself” by Shad Helmstetter. This book was written in 1982 – nearly 40 years ago – and the content is still very valid today. I have been thinking over the last week about how much the pandemic is affecting is all, so self talk is so vital in times like this.
We all talk to ourselves – all of the time. So what are we saying? Are we portraying negative thoughts and self talk? The chances are in the current situation that we are. A lot of this self talk is input into our brains through social media, news channels and the press. Therefore does it not make sense that this should be limited. We have to dilute the negative. We need to take control of our lives, and what goes into our brain and our thoughts. I am sure most of us will have heard the quote, “Garbage in, garbage out”. Negative self talk is damaging, and totally counterproductive to everything we do.
What we say when we talk to ourselves affects us in many ways. It affects how we perform on a day to day basis in our businesses. It affects what we eat and how good our mental and physical health is. It affects how we respond to every situation and conversation we have. So how do we change our thinking and our self talk?
Speaking from a personal perspective, and having been involved in a personal development programme since 1982, I know how much difference having a positive mindset made to my business and life success. It is not something we can expect instant changes from, but we have to start somewhere. We have to start NOW! By reading personal development books, listening to motivational audio books and hanging around with people who have a positive mindset will start to make a difference in how we look at ourselves and what we say to ourselves. I would also suggest taking great care in what we watch on TV. Improve our education by watching nature programmes, or programmes about how we can improve our health and mental well being. Or something that makes us laugh.
We are going through strange times and I do believe we all have to change what we do and how we do it. We are all spending more time in our own homes with the same surroundings. We are unable to socialise in the way we would like and socialising with family and friends can be such a stress reliever. It is also – most of the time – a positive environment to be in, and we cannot be in a positive environment where we are enjoying ourselves and laughing and have negative thoughts at the same time, so its important we are so careful with everything we do. We must feed our brains and our bodies with “food” that improve us.
By reading Shad Helmsetter’s book it will give simple but profound techniques that will – based on an understanding of the processes of the human brain – enable thousands of people to get back in control of their lives. By learning how to talk to yourself in new ways, you will notice a dramatic improvement in every area of your life. You will feel better and achieve more. It will help you be more productive at work, at home and every area of your life.
Keep well everyone, stay positive and keep believing life will be better – it will.
This article was first published on LinkedIn by Richard Knight on 25/01/2021