Our own self talk can impact our lives in many ways as it takes on many roles in our mind such as the inner critics, inner cheerleader, inner conscience or inner child. Everyone experiences their own self talk all day long and it can be influenced by our past experiences, core beliefs or cognitive processes. A majority of the time people can struggle with negative self-talk which then creates negative feelings and low self-esteem which can deeply affect our mental health.
There can be different kinds of negative self-talk that we might not realize how often we do them such as constantly blaming yourself and beating yourself over every little thing that goes wrong. Or catastrophizing everything and coming up with the worst case scenarios for anything. These can also cause you to start filtering your mind in to always seeking out and assuming the negative over the positive within your life. Fortunately, you do not have to live this way forever as there are routine and habits that you can bring into your life that will help you to eliminate the negative self-talk and combat positively. Here are some of the best ways to help you to start thinking more positively.
1. Be Aware of the Negative Self-Talk
The most important step into changing the way you think about yourself is to become aware that you are hurting yourself mentally in the first place. The best ways to figure out your negative patterns and how they are impacting your mood and behavior is by setting aside some time for self-reflection.
This can through a meditation to realize your thoughts and feelings from your inner voice and understand more on what’s causing it. Journaling is another great form of self-reflection either through free form writing or answering different prompts as writing it down on paper can improve your awareness.
2. Challenge the Negative Self-Talk
Once you begin to figure out the patterns of your negative thinking you can begin to notice more of what you’re thinking and when you’re doing it to then challenge the thought and refuse to accept it.
Usually our negative thoughts can be connected to irrational beliefs and if you begin challenging these thoughts and beliefs once you catch yourself thinking them then you can create a whole new pattern of thinking.
3. Practice Positive Self-Talk
In order to truly change your thinking patterns you have to replace the negative thought with something else and this is when positive self-talk comes in. If you begin to notice yourself thinking the negative thoughts and stopping them then you can soon add in something positive instead.
This can be challenging at first if you have developed a subconscious habit of negative thinking, but a perfect way to start is by practicing positive affirmations and even if you don’t believe them at first eventually if you continue to say them instead of negativity it will trick your brain into a new cycle of thinking.
4. Focus on the Present
Adding more mindfulness into your life can help take away negative thoughts through being focused only on the present moment. This can also bring relief to our minds as instead of having constant thoughts it allows us to stop and refocus on what’s happening around us.
Practicing mindfulness gives you more control over your thoughts by being able to bring yourself to the moment. Ways to start in cooperating mindfulness into your daily routine is through different grounding meditations and breathing exercises that help to train your brain into living the moment.
Adding all of these into your daily life can help to create a more healthy mindset with enthused positive thinking and living in the present that can help to improve your mood and have a more honest way of living for yourself and the life you desire to live.
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