Every human being produces approximately 70,000 thoughts per day, according to the Laboratory of NeuroImaging, University of Southern California.
Our minds never stop! The marveling fact is that humans are highly unaware of how the mind works, including the impact of our mind on our lives. Especially important: our thoughts control our future! Thoughts and self-talk are powerful and highly influence our lives!
Our minds can only hold one thought at a time, which means we have a choice: Focus on a thought that makes us feel bad, OR, focus on something that makes us feel good! Leanne Beattie, Health and Motivational Writer, recommends:
When you notice negative self-talk, STOP! Your thoughts become your reality.
Boost yourself (and others) whenever the opportunity presents itself. Be your own best friend. Have faith in yourself and the results will come. You deserve to be healthy, confident, and strong! The only thing holding you back is your thinking!
Overall Benefits
Words or phrases you silently recite can enhance your performance and general wellbeing. Research shows self-talk helps athletes with greater performance.
Positive self-talk has additional health benefits including:
• Increased vitality
• Greater life satisfaction
• Improved immune function
• Reduces pain
• Better cardiovascular health
• Improved physical well-being
• Reduce risk for death
• Less stress
Research suggests people with positive thoughts enhance mental skills that allow quicker problem-solving, increase in positive behaviors, and greater efficiencies in coping with hardships or challenges. All of these actions reduce the harmful effects of stress and anxiety, and increase feelings of success.
Tips to improve inner dialogue
Positive self-talk takes practice… forming a new habit takes effort. Positive self-talk will become your norm.
These tips can help:
• Identify negative self-talk traps. Certain scenarios may increase your self-doubt and lead to more negative self-talk. Work events, for example, may be particularly hard. Pinpointing when you experience the most negative self-talk can help you anticipate and prepare.
• Check in with your feelings. Stop during events or bad days and evaluate your self-talk. Is it negative? How can you turn it around?
• Find the humor. Laughter can help relieve stress and tension. When you need a boost for positive self-talk, find ways to laugh, such as watching funny videos or a comedian.
• Surround yourself with positive people. Whether or not you notice, you can absorb emotions of people around you. This includes negative and positive, so choose positive people.
• Give yourself positive affirmations. Sometimes, seeing positive words or inspiring images can be enough to redirect your thoughts. Post small reminders in your office, home, and anywhere you spend a significant amount of time.
“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”
-Marcus Aurelius
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