Positive Self-Talk Exercises – 5 Effective Ways

Positive Self-Talk Exercises – 5 Effective Ways

Hi friends, today I am sharing an important article on Positive Self-Talk. We have seen many people including ourselves doing self-talk either while walking, or driving, or playing, or while doing any other work. Here I’ll take you through the benefits of positive Self-Talk along with 5 effective Positive Self-Talk Exercises.

What is Self-Talk?

Self-talk is the dialogue we have with ourselves either mentally or out loud. Positive or negative, self-talk is the information and messages we send to ourselves in our every waking moment.

Self-talk often comes in different ways, but the common denominator is that at the end of the conversation, we are either motivated to keep pushing or give up and stop trying. The messages we send to ourselves – these self-talks – are instrumental to our success or failure in life. We either talk to ourselves so much that we motivate, push, or inspire ourselves to succeed or we tell ourselves all the things that would make us fearful and keep us from taking actionable steps.

So, our drive to achieve and reach all our goals depends on what we tell ourselves. The fact is, we will always talk to ourselves, what matters is whether we are doing so positively or negatively.

Negative and Positive Self-Talk

The act of self-talk is deeply rooted in human psychology and they are both the unconscious and conscious opinions we have of ourselves and the world around us. Sigmund Freud was the first person who led humans to the knowledge of unconscious and conscious stages of thoughts was a philosopher and psychologist. According to him, we have both stages and levels of thought and it is the unconscious part that has a lot of influence in our lives in more ways than we realize.

By practicing self-talk, we subconsciously examine our beliefs and thoughts, ask ourselves the fundamental questions that personally concern us, and evaluate our ideas. And this entire process can either be done negatively or positively.

There are generally two kinds of personalities – the optimists and the pessimists. The optimists always maintain a positive attitude about themselves and life in general even when circumstances do not look good. Pessimists are the exact opposite. The optimists will almost always have positive self-talk because they have self-compassion and self-understanding of what they have been through, while pessimists will lean on the more negative thoughts and self-talk.

While these theories may hold facts, negative self-talk does not have to be the reality of a pessimist. If your thoughts are always negative, you will have to take active and intentional steps to shift the direction of your inner dialogue. This will help make you a more positive person which will, in turn, improve your quality of life.

The Power of Positive Self-Talk

As humans, we often find ourselves having conversations in our heads, and most times, these conversations are often very heated. Sometimes we find ourselves acting out a scenario and other times, we are giving ourselves much-needed advice or rebuke. This is a normal occurrence and it is what is referred to as “Self-Talk”.

Benefits of Positive Self-Talk

Helps With Anxiety and Depression

According to research carried out by Leung and Poon in 2001, positive self-talk can truly help those who have anxiety and depression. Since these disorders are known to be linked with negative self-talk, it goes to show that positive self-talk will have a huge effect in treating them.

Boosts Self-confidence

When you constantly say positive things about yourself to yourself, you will begin to believe it and then with time, you will have a huge confidence boost. When you tell yourself you’re capable of doing certain things, your confidence in those things increases.

Reduces Stress

In 2004, researchers Iwanaga, Seiwa, and Yokoyama conducted research that showed that optimistic people tend to practice positive self-talk and use more reliable coping schemes when they are stressed or faced with challenges.

When you attack problems and challenges with an “I can do it” mindset, it opens you up to so many possibilities of ways to end those challenges or accept defeat with the knowledge that you gave it your best. This helps to reduce the level of stress that the situation will bring.

Positive Self-Talk help to Build Strong Willpower

The habit of always speaking positively and kindly to yourself has a lot of advantages, and one of them is how it affects your willpower. Willpower is defined as a person’s ability to resist short-term pleasure with a long-term goal in mind.

We have plans for our future and things will always try to serve as a distraction. And when there’s no willpower, there’s no push to say “no” when required. Positive self-talk will help you encourage yourself to stick to the plan. According to a study that was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, positive self-talk can make a person build tolerance and have self-control. All you need to do is keep telling yourself you have what it takes to fight off all temptations and focus on your goals.

Positive Self-Talk Exercises

The first step to practicing self-talk is to first recognize how your negative thoughts take form/shape. Only then can you work on stopping them and effectively turning them into positive thoughts.

5 Effective Positive Self-Talk Exercises:

Surround Yourself with Positive People

The kind of people you keep around you will have an effect on your life. If you only have people with negative energy, who only have bad days around you, their negativity will definitely rub off on you. The same is true for positive people.

Be Grateful

According to a study by Psychology Today, young adults who were made to keep gratitude journals became more determined, attentive, and enthusiastic compared to those in other groups. If you want to spot all the positives in your life, find all the things you are grateful for and you’ll see how easy it will be to have positive self-talk.

You can keep a gratitude journal on which you can write down everything, both big and small, that you are most grateful for. The journal will help you focus on these positive things which will lead to positive self-talk.

Always Use Positive Words with Others

Using negative words with others only points to the fact that you also use negative words on yourself. Only speak positive affirmations to those around you, and as your words uplift them, you, in turn, become enriched and positive-minded. Try to focus on the good things about your friends and loved ones and try not to always dwell on the bad.

Also, actively combat negative thoughts when they pop into your head. For instance, when you think negatively like “I will never get better at this” or “there’s no way this can work”, you can quickly catch yourself and think like this instead “I’ll give it another try and will keep trying till I get it right” and “I can try to think of new ways to make it work till it does”. It’s all in the attitude.

Believe That you’re a Success

Have a firm belief that you will succeed. Believe and trust in the skills and abilities you possess that will help you achieve success. Have no doubts and never stop telling yourself you can attain success. If it’s something a human can achieve, then you are equipped with all it takes to achieve it.

Use Positive Affirmations

Sometimes, it gets a bit difficult to remember the things you want to tell yourself. The best way to fix that is by always keeping positive affirmations within your line of sight.

You can write little notes and affix them all around your house, office space, and even your car. Use positive affirmations as the wallpaper on your phone and computer. Seeing these affirmations will remind you to always talk kindly and positively to yourself.

The Takeaway

One thing you must realize is that talking to yourself is a very good thing. The fact is, no one can cheer you on to your dreams better than you can and no one can motivate you to achieve success in your field(s) as much as you.

The power of positive self-talk is so enormous that it can be the thin line between living the life of success you see for yourself, and a life of fear, doubt, failure, and nonfulfillment. So, start practicing positive self-talk today and watch how everything will begin to take a turn for the better.

Stay Happy and Healthy!!!

Disclaimer: The content shared in this blog is based on some personal experiences, observations, and self-understanding through research. The details provided here are to share my thoughts with people, only for educational and informational purposes, and it is not a piece of expert professional advice to the reader. The details mentioned in this blog do not bind or compel any person to follow the methods given here. The intent to write and share this blog is to communicate some insights on the possible solutions and methods that can help people get motivated and encourage them to start using some of these methods to achieve positive results in life.