Positive self-talk expands your power; negative self-talk restricts it. Your personal power dramatically shapes your professional, personal, and social destinies, all with multiplying impact. Take the situation of entering a large ballroom full of unfamiliar faces. Immediately, if fearful thoughts take hold, you can talk yourself right out of a positive experience and the potential it holds:
Yikes, looks like I don’t know a soul here. I’m so uncomfortable right now I knew I shouldn’t have come. I hate these types of events. I feel soooo awkward. Everyone else seems to be involved in conversations and I don’t know where to go or who to talk to. I must look like an idiot standing here alone. Oh, there’s Megan and Justin, but they probably don’t want me to cut in on their conversation. I can’t stand it anymore…Maybe I should just leave. Actually, that sounds like a great idea. I’ll give it one more minute, then I’m outta here! Positive self-talk awakens the courage that lies within. It boosts your selfimage and a sense of personal mastery. It directs your thoughts to expect positive outcomes.
This will be a good experience for me! It’s up to me. I have to take the initiative, so just relax. I’ll be fine. Hmmm? Let’s see… there’s a woman standing alone over there. I bet she’d appreciate a little company, so I’ll go introduce myself. She looks friendly. That turquoise necklace she is wearing is really striking. I’ll start by asking her about it. I’d like to also hear her thoughts about the new plans outlined during the morning session….
When you instruct your mind to carry out messages related to successful performance, it works to override previously stored information. It does work, but so must you, sometimes very hard, to re-program entrenched thought programs, some which can be extremely well worn and deeply ingrained.
It’s not unusual to sometimes fall back into old patterns. It would be wonderful if deciding to change a behavior (accompanied with a huge dose of determination) would immediately produce the new behavior. Poof! Old behavior gone! Hello, happiness! Dream on! Personal growth is rarely so neat, tidy, or instantaneous. It can be a very rugged journey indeed, but it is well worth the trek into the wilderness. You may even find yourself traveling longer than you think you would like wondering if you’ll ever “get it” maybe kicking yourself when you don’t.
Pay close attention to your inner conversations. If you hear condemning, disapproving, confidence-crushing messages, they’re not serving your best interests. Whenever you find yourself off-track, gently guide yourself back on course. Dump any destructive, negative messages that may still to a positive sound possibilities.track, you’re changing your perception, reducing stress, averting potentiallynegative results, and laying the groundwork for promising linger and want to take up residence in your brain. Ward them off byreplacing them with positive messages to move yourself forward, one thought, one step, one action at a time. By switching to a positive sound track, you’re changing your perception, reducing stress, averting potentially negative results, and laying the groundwork for promising possibilities.
