Break the Habit of Negative Self-Talk
Play the “Yes And, Which One” (YAWO) Game
You finally decided! You are going to jump no matter what! You run and are in the air before you know it, there’s no going back now, your body hits the cold water. On your way back to the surface after being fully submerged, your shivering body and chattering teeth confirmed the definite shock to the system. Just as you started to question your decision and return to shore you began to acclimate to the temperature. You smiled and relaxed into your new surroundings. I’m glad I jumped, you thought.
Any time we embark upon a journey to change a habit, it’s a shock to our system. (that’s as sciency as I’ll get in this article, I promise😉). In my experience, one of the toughest habits to break was negative self-talk. The words were so automatic, they would escape my lips before I even realized they were coming. I was desensitized to the sound because I had been hearing it all my life. It was who I was those days.
Every time I’d say something positive or embrace a proud moment, it was like jumping into a cold lake except I never got acclimated so I’d swim back to shore and negate the positives with something negative.
For me to crack the surface of the ice-hearted negative talk, someone outside of my head had to interject. That someone was a friend who loved me…
