Have you ever wondered why after a week of repeating nothing but negative thoughts and complaints you feel terrible? That’s because the more you repeat it, the more you believe it. Just like the old saying “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all”, that applies to the words you speak to and about yourself. Now the question is, how do we completely rid ourselves of the negativity when it’s all that we have become accustomed to? The only answer is to start overriding the negative with positive thoughts and words.
Positive self-talk is an internal dialogue that can make someone feel optimistic and confident. This can include daily affirmations spoken in front of the mirror, journaling, or even speaking positively to another individual in your life. For example, you could start your day out by saying “I am good enough”, “I am strong”, ‘I am beautiful”, “I am an amazing person”, “I am healthy” or even “this setback will not defeat me”. By trading out one negative comment at a time with positivity, you will notice a difference in your mind and even your body. Here are five ways that positive self-talk can help improve your overall wellbeing:
Improve mental health: This can help decrease anxiety and depression. When you aren’t magnified by a negative mindset you will have a clearer head space to cope and work through whatever is challenging you.
Improve self-esteem and body image: By complimenting yourself in every stage of your life whether that be when aging, postpartum, after an injury, when your clothes fit differently, or even when you hit a plateau in general. This will again shift your mind to believe your words, which attracts confidence!
De-escalate stressful situations: Being able to talk yourself through and away from situations that don’t allow for growth will decrease your stress and rationalize the importance of the situation.
Improved physical well-being: This is due to the fact that you just feel happier, motivated, and rejuvenated. When someone is constantly negative this can decrease motivation to do anything beyond what they feel they are capable of doing.
Increase immunity: Studies have shown that those who have negative emotions and self-talk tend to have weaker immune systems due to a number of things internal and external. If your attitude is more positive, you’ll most likely be more motivated, active, and choose healthier habits not only with your food choices, but with your day to day activities.
Your mind and your words are more powerful than you realize. If you are constantly focused on negativity your brain sees that as a sign to protect you from harm's way. This makes it difficult for your brain to think through and rationalize reality. By stopping negative thinking and replacing it with positive thoughts your brain will respond by decreasing cortisol (stress hormone) and increasing serotonin (mood stabilizer) levels creating feelings of confidence, happiness, and motivation to take on the world.
One of the best ways to help yourself switch into this positive mindset is to give yourself truth under the words in your affirmations. If "I am strong" is what you are saying to yourself but you're not actively doing things to strengthen yourself your brain tends to reject those words. So make sure what you say is rooted in truth, so the phrase matches reality. Start by exercising and saying I am getting stronger. Do one push up at home and say "I'm getting healthier". If you need help or simply want to turbo charge your change on this journey make sure to find the accountability and support in a community that will help you start to change your self-narrative.
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