As the demand for fit and healthy lifestyle is growing, people are looking for the latest ideas and effortless ways to live a healthy lifestyle. One such fitness mantra that helps people to live a calm and stress-free life is Self-Talk. Basically, self-talk refers to an act of talking to yourself. Self-talk can be positive or negative. You can either send positive messages to yourself or talk negative. These messages that you send to your brain can either encourage you or make you nervous.
Imagine you say a joke at a party. No one laughed at your joke or admired your potential. What are you going to tell yourself after the party?
“I shouldn’t have said that joke. I made fun of myself in front of the guests”
“No problem! At least, I tried something new. I will do better next time.”
If you are a pessimist, you will say the first sentence. This is because you always see things from a bad angle. Positive thinking plays a crucial role in helping you achieve a fit and positive life. It improves your mental and physical health. So, how do you embrace optimism? Or, how can you encourage yourself to talk positively to yourself? Let’s find out.
Why Positive Self-Talk Matters?
According to the research, self-talk boosts the strength in Athletes and help them carry the heavyweights effortlessly. Not only does it help athletes, but this fitness mantra improves your overall health and mental well-being. Positive self-talk can change your perspective and make you a better person. By embracing positive self-talk, you will find yourself in a calm and positive space all the time. Let’s have a look at some common health benefits of positive self-talk:
- Boost your immune system
- Reduce pain
- Improve cardiovascular health
- Boost vitality
- Eliminates stress
- Improve physical well-being
- Reduce the risk of serious ailments
Believe it or not, but optimists enjoy all these benefits. If research is to be believed, positive self-talk increases your mental capacity. When you take everything positively, you will be able to solve your life problems efficiently. Moreover, you can cope with the hardships and challenging situations in a better way. Now that you have adopted a positive mentality, your mind will be at peace. A calmer mind can take effective decisions as compared to an anxious mind. Overall, positive self-talk improves your mental health by changing your perspective and promoting your decision-making skills.
Understanding the Negative Self-Talk
Everyone faces challenging situations at some point in their life. However, problems don’t look that difficult if you take them positively. In the above-mentioned example, you can either blame yourself for speaking up or decide to improve your jokes. Before you learn to practice the positive self-talk technique, you must understand the negative thinking. You will definitely see progress once you understand the negativity and turn it into positive self-talk.
Negative self-talk is the act of thinking and talking about the negative side of the situation. Some of the examples of negative self-talk are blaming yourself for everything, letting the illogical thoughts consume your mind, finding negativity in people or events.
You can always work on your mentality and self-talk and turn them into optimism. Make sure that negative self-talk is a habit, which can’t be corrected overnight. Learning to embrace a positive approach is a process that needs time and effort. The good news is that even children can correct their negative self-talk habit and become an optimist. All they need is a strong plan, practice, and motivation.
How to Practice Positive Self-Talk?
Basically, no one is born as a pessimist. Negative thinking is a habit. Fortunately, you can change yourself by changing your inner dialogues. You must follow these tips to change your habits and shift your inner dialogues to optimism.
Identify Negative Self-Talks: As mentioned before, the most important step to learning positivity is identifying the negative self-talk. What irritates you the most? What events lead to negative self-talk in your life? Make a list of the events that frustrate you the most and encourage you to practice negative self-talks.
Laughter Work Wonders: Sometimes, a comedy show or funny movie is all that you need to turn your negative thoughts into positive ones. If you are finding it hard to shift your inner dialogues, read some funny novel or watch a comedy movie.
Stay around Positive People: Have you ever considered the people you spend most of your time with? Are they optimists? Well, people you surround yourself with can influence your behavior and decisions. Their negative attitude can have a great impact on your attitude. You will never be able to think positively if you surround yourself with negative minds. Choose people wisely. Try to spend your time with optimists.
Positive Affirmations: You don’t always need people to encourage you. You can motivate yourself by watching some inspirational movies or reading a few motivational thoughts on the internet. Write some positive and inspirational thoughts on a paper and stick it to the office wall or your bed. That way, every time you come across the motivational thought, you will feel positive.
Stop Comparison: Never play the comparison game. It will promote the negative self-talk and keep you from happiness. People who compare themselves with others never feel grateful for what they have. They rather concentrate on what others have. If you want to stay fit, stop comparing yourself with others.
Think About the Blessings: Another way to practice self-talk is by counting your blessings. Is there something that keeps you going? What encourages you to work hard and achieve your goal? You can even start a journal. Note all your blessings and positive things that you are proud of.
Exercise and Meditate: Meditation brings positivity in your life by calming your mind and releasing unnecessary thoughts. If you want to practice positive self-talk, start your day with meditation. A stress-free mind tends to encourage positive self-talk.
