Do you talk to yourself?

Have you ever been at a red light and looked over to see the driver in the next lane is seemingly in a full blown conversation with … no one else in the vehicle.

Ok, sure, many of us have our phones connected to our car speakers but humor me. What if she isn’t on an important phone call? What if she is talking to herself.

Before you think, “oh she’s crazy!” let's imagine the truth; all of us humans do this. We all talk to ourselves. We might not realize it but we talk to ourselves inwardly and outwardly every single day.

The question is, when you talk to yourself, are you more often a constant critic or a constructive coach?

Research shows that 70% of our self talk is actually negative.

Too often we can be our worst enemy, we can talk ourselves out of reaching our goals and quite frankly we can talk ourselves into unhealthy stressful situations and depressive states. When we complain, judge ourselves or others, this can lead to extreme negative feelings, emotions and outcomes.

The good news is that we can change.

One extremely powerful way that we can make the shift from being a critic, saying things to ourselves like; “I’m never going to lose the weight” or “what’s the point of even trying to eat better?”

… is to practice positive self talk.

When we make it a habit to speak kindly to ourselves our countenance changes. When we make it a habit to declare success in our lives, success happens.

Today I want to encourage and inspire you to practice positive self talk.

3 Simple Steps

1. Find a time & place where you can practice your self-talk.

Quality over quantity. This practice could simply be the first 5 minutes of your day in the bathroom mirror; 3 minutes of your lunch break at work; or the very last words of the day as you lay down to sleep

1. Slowly imagine and picture yourself with the emotions that are generated when you speak your self talk affirmations. Allow yourself to feel everything.

1. Write down/Save in your phone your observations on how you feel after you’ve completed your daily practice

Here are some affirmations to get you started. Feel free to create your own as well.

• I feel powerful and confident.

• Fear is only a feeling, I will not allow it to hold me back.

• I treat myself with kindness and respect.

• I enjoy exercising more each day.

• I choose to make healthier eating choices.

• Today my own well-being is my top priority.

• I love the way I feel when I take good care of myself.

• Each day I move closer to my ideal body weight and strength.

• I AM strong