Accept Yourself from the Inside Out

    

     One of the things that I have always had a problem with is negative self-talk.  This is a problem I have had to work on as long as I can remember.  I have heard these patterns usually start in childhood and can color our thinking for years.  Self-talk actually makes us what we are. 

    Self–talk is the conversations that go on inside our heads when we are faced with problems or even simple issues that happen throughout the day. We do not always notice it, but we are constantly talking to ourselves and when it is negative it creates a lot of stress in our lives.

     Becoming aware of negative self-talk is the first step in taking charge of our lives and reducing the amount of stress we experience.  If our lives are bombarded with negative stuff all day the automatic reactions we have limit how we handle life’s challenges.  I know you’ve heard this stuff in your head throughout your life; I’m not good enough, this is not for me, this is way too hard, I can’t finish this, I’m too dumb to do this, change is too hard, etc.  Your parents or teachers may have told you this stuff or it could have been reactions to certain events in your life.  I know in my own life I heard these things from coaches, my parents, drill sergeants, friends and others.  After hearing this all our lives it becomes part of our personalities.  Basically all of these negative people live inside our heads today.  

    How many times have your negative thoughts got in the way of something you wanted to do?  Have you ever really wanted something, but your mind told you NO?  These thoughts surface when you are faced with doing something that is counter to what your mind thinks you can do, or has a negative opinion about. It happens to all of us at least a few times in our lives.

     The good news is we can change this negative self-talk.  All we really need to do is become more aware of it.  Last week I wrote about a great way to work on this by journaling.  When we write down our feelings throughout the day we can go back later and analyze them.  It can help us detect patterns in our thoughts.  People who go to counselors are actually paying someone to journal for them.  Life coaches pretty much do the same thing.  Journaling is an excellent tool for us to use to examine the Leader From Within.

     Another thing we can do if we notice negative thoughts running through our mind is to tell ourselves NO!  We can also tell ourselves to STOP!  This works better if you do it out loud when that is possible.  Saying STOP or NO out loud is more effective because it helps us notice how many times we are doing it.

     I hope everyone thinks about this over the next week and looks at how negative self-talk is affecting your lives.  Next week I will list some good activities that help us overcome the negative thoughts and things we say to ourselves.  Ridding ourselves with this negative garbage will improve our self-esteem and help us to become better leaders.  Working on the stuff running around in our heads is what the Leader From Within is all about.

     I hope everyone has a blessed week.