The benefits of positive self talk

That little internal voice 

Do you experience positive self talk? You may not realise it, but you talk to yourself all day, every day. You talk to yourself more than you talk to anyone else. From the moment you wake up that internal voice is helping you make decisions, putting yourself down over the smallest issues, or pumping you up for a great day ahead.

Take a minute and think about what you’ve said to yourself today. Was it critical and negative, or was it kind, helpful or positive? Unfortunately for most of us that inner voice is quite the critic. This inner voice, or internal dialogue, frames our view and reactions to life. And all too commonly our automatic dialogue is negative, and can fuel our feelings of anger, fear, anxiety or depression.

How important is positive self-talk?

Your thoughts and self talk are the main source for your emotions, mood and overall wellbeing. People are becoming more aware that positive self-talk is a powerful tool for increasing your self-confidence and changing negative emotions. Those who can master positive self-talk are thought to be more confident, motivated, and productive.

The practice of positive self-talk is often the process that allows you to uncover and increase your optimism, hope, and joy in any given situation or relationship. Positive dialogue can influence how you feel about yourself and how you respond to events in your life. It is thought that positive and optimistic people tend to live healthier lifestyles such as engaging in increased levels of physical activity, eating a balanced and healthier diet, avoiding drugs and smoking, and drinking less.

The health benefits of positive thinking

Additional benefits to the healthier lifestyle choices name above, people with positive self talk have a mulititude of other health benefits including;

• Lower rates of depression
• Better coping skills during times of stress
• Lower levels of distress or crisis
• Greater resistance to the common cold
• Better psychological and physical well-being
• Better cardiovascular health and reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease, which in turn increases life span

Researchers believe this is due to the individual’s ability to mange stress effects on the body by reframing events and circumstances through positive self talk. One theory is that having a positive outlook enables you to cope better with stressful situations, which reduces the harmful health effects of stress on your body.

Understanding positive thinking and self-talk

Positive thinking just means that you approach unpleasantness in a more positive and productive way. You think the best is going to happen, not the worst. Kind of like looking at the glass half full instead of half empty.

Positive thinking often starts with self-talk. Some of your self-talk comes from logic and reason. Other self-talk may arise from misconceptions that you create because of lack of information, or from past life experiences.

If the thoughts that run through your head are mostly negative, your outlook on life is more likely pessimistic. But the good news is that you can change this. The first step to change is always awareness.

Is your self talk positive or negative?

Some common forms of negative self-talk include:

Filtering. Do you focus on and magnify the negative aspects of your day? You have a great day at work getting everything completed, you were given compliments on your achievements, but when you get home you can only remember and focus on the tasks you have the next day?

Personalising. When something bad occurs, do you automatically blame yourself? Have you ever assumed that a cancelled evening with friends was because no one wanted to be around you instead of thinking that maybe something actually came up for the other people?

Catastrophising. Do you automatically anticipate the worst? That failing one small class test will result in you failing every test, exam, failing the whole year and end with you never passing VCE?

Polarising. Do you often see things only as either good or bad? There is no middle ground. You feel that you have to be perfect or you’re a total failure?

 

Stay tuned as next week “In the benefits of positive self-talk part two” I will cover how to learn and practice positive self talk strategies. Please contact us if you have any questions or would like to know more. Or follow us on socials to keep up to date with our blogs.