Negative Self-Talk And How to Stop It

Do you tell yourself you’re not good enough? Do you think others are better than you? Is there a nagging voice in your head that fills you with negativity and bad thoughts about yourself? Self-talk is the way you speak to yourself in your head. It can be positive or negative and with all of the stresses and complications in life, we can easily go down the path of beating ourselves up.

Negative Thinking

Thinking negatively can lead to feelings of pessimism and create unnecessary stress and anxiety. You can learn to turn negative thoughts into positive ones, but it is going to require effort and it will be challenging. The process of stopping negative self-talk begins with telling yourself this: Don’t say anything to yourself that you wouldn’t say to someone else. When a negative thought pops into your head, simply think about it rationally and respond with happy thoughts and think about what’s good about you.

What Are You Telling Yourself?

Excessively criticizing yourself most often backfires because it leads to us thinking about our failures instead of ways in which we could improve. Over the long term, negative self-talk is associated with higher stress levels and in some cases depression. Happily, we can all silence that nagging voice in our minds and avoid falling into the trap of berating ourselves.

Put Negative Things In Proportion

While we are busy beating ourselves up inside, a small mistake is inflated into an astronomical failure. The next time a negative thought enters your mind, take a few deep breaths and sit back. Quickly narrow down what the problem is and put it into a box. If you believe you messed up at work or didn’t keep a promise to someone, instead of thinking negatively about the situation, you should realize you just made a small blunder. Put it into a box in your mind that is actually the same size as the problem and then it will help you feel better about dealing with it.

See Also: When Do People Do Bad Things?

Try Thinking Positively

We all feel a lot of pressure trying to do it all and to live up to our own ideal of perfection. However, when you are down about things and feel badly about yourself, research from the Mayo Clinic has found when we force ourselves to say positive things to ourselves it backfires and we wind up feeling worse. It’s because when we “lie” to ourselves, it sets off our inner lie detector. Instead of forcing ourselves to think positively, trying to think about something neutral seems to have a more positive effect on the mindset.

Let Go Of Guilt

Many of us say or do things that we would like to kick ourselves for later. However, challenge your version of the event and put it into perspective because it’s probably not as bad as you truly believe. Make a conscious choice to be kind to yourself, don’t question yourself so critically and stop believing the worst in yourself. Let go of any guilt or shame you carry because you made a mistake, it happens and we are only human.

Recognize Negative Thoughts

Most often we focus on negative things like our problems and stress. If we believe everything that’s in front of us, we are bound to feel overwhelmed and depressed. However, it’s possible to shift the mind away from the negative, self-defeating thought process through becoming aware. The world is not a terrible place, you are not bound to fail, things will not always be as bad as they seem right now and you can be happy, if you allow yourself to think positively. It’s important to recognize negative thoughts and to banish them from your mind, because holding onto undesirable emotions is what prevents us from moving forward in life.

See A New Picture

What we think and how we see ourselves on any given day tells the universe what to give us. If we desire to be successful, to have better relationships, become more self-confident and loving, then these are the things we must actually envision. Instead of remaining focused on what you don’t have, focus your mind on positive expectations. Rise up out of adversity and negativity, see yourself as you wish to be and you can make it happen.

Realize Bad Thoughts Become Reality

Thoughts can actually create reality. How? Logical positivism has had its time, today our culture is embracing the power of the human mind. People are learning to rely on their intuition and spirituality, in order to guide them in decision making. A positive mental attitude is the belief we can reach our goals through optimistic thinking. This attitude stems from observing our environment and we reinforce it when we receive feedback from other people, behaviors, events or circumstances.

A positive mental attitude is a good way to approach life and it is a discipline that requires the human mind to change a perceived reality through making positive mental statements. To stop negative self-talk, we must notice when and where we make the shift and to cease from doing it. This is ingrained in us and when we continue to think in negative terms, it prohibits us from reaching our full potential.

Be Thankful

There’s no greater way to change your energy than to recognize how important it is for you to practice thankfulness. If you are thankful for what you have it will in turn, make you a much happier person. Be thankful for who you are, what you have and for your journey. Focus on the things you can contribute to the world and not what you can’t do or what others expect you to do. As you begin to harness your mind and embrace optimistic thinking, you will start to experience better things in your life.

See Also: Ten Reasons You Should Meditate

Life is all about challenges and when these come up, you shouldn’t immediately give into negative thinking.  Let go of your self-criticism and move forward with positivity and optimism. Change your thoughts to include thankfulness, gratitude self-appreciation, self-love, freedom, happiness, unconditional love and ultimately joy, because these are the foundation of a new and better reality.