The Dangers of Negative Thinking and How to Master Positive Self-Talk
Self-talk is our internal dialogue. Some call it the voice in our head. In their book, 鈥淯nderstanding Psychological Preparation for Sport: Theory and Practice of Elite Performers,鈥 Lew Hardy, Graham Jones, and Daniel Gould define self-talk as a form of self-regulation that uses affirmations鈥攄eliberate automatic statements to help control thoughts, instruct, and motivate. Positive self-talk increases self-esteem. Scientific studies have shown self-talk positively effects performance, reduces stress, enhances persistence, and improves learning.
What is Negative Self-Talk?
Every person has some form of self-talk, and it can be positive or negative. Unfortunately, most of our self-talk is negative鈥攚hat is called our inner critic. In his article in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, S.J. White says, 鈥淭he human mind seems to focus on the negative, and we tend to berate ourselves in ways we would never tolerate from a boss, spouse, or anyone else.鈥 Have you ever heard your inner voice say:
- I can鈥檛 do this
- I am going to fail
- What a loser
- Idiot
Negative self-talk is dangerous. Negative thoughts can affect our behavior and performance, so it is important that we focus instead on the positive. One way to silence our inner critic and to empower our self is through affirmations, like repeating, 鈥淚 am improving every day鈥 or 鈥淚 did my best.鈥
What is Positive Self-Talk?
Positive self-talk can be motivational or instructional. Motivational聽self-talk involves statements that facilitate performance by increasing effort and boosting self-confidence and mood. Instructional self-talk involves affirmations intended to enhance performance. During the 2002 Wimbledon ladies鈥 singles tennis final between the Williams sisters, Serena Williams (who won) used hand-written notes as affirmations between games. As reported in The Guardian, Williams said these 鈥渇lash cards鈥 were 鈥渞eminders to think about cues such as 鈥榟it in front鈥 or 鈥榮tay low鈥 during the match.鈥
Athletes are taught to use self-talk to motivate themselves and improve their performance. Have you heard self-talk from athletes? Maybe 鈥渓et鈥檚 go,鈥 鈥渟tay calm,鈥 or 鈥渇ocus on the ball.鈥 Some do it aloud, but it doesn鈥檛 have to be aloud. Researchers found that self-talk is one of the strongest predictors of successful Olympic performance among U.S. athletes. Athletes and students who listen to their inner critic lose or fail more. Those who use聽positive聽self-talk consistently improve their performance significantly more than counterparts who use聽negative聽self-talk. We want to focus on eliminating negative self-talk and practice using positive self-talk.
Here are some steps for developing a positive self-talk habit:
- Know thyself. Find your strengths. Analyze your thoughts. What psyches you out? What motivates you? What are your strengths?
- Choose a mantra:聽To get started, choose one of two simple affirmations, such as “I am college material,” “I can do this,” or another simple, positive phrase you can repeat over and over.
- Practice:聽Once you have developed the habit of repeating this phrase to the point where it is automatic, start expanding the dialogue so that you have familiar and comfortable statements for a variety of situations. For example, “I鈥檝e done this before and it鈥檚 doable.”
- Create a positive mental image or visualization:聽The phrases and words you choose should be those that you can immediately call up and create a聽聽of yourself doing exactly what you say. The image along with the words is a powerful combination that creates a positive message tied to a belief. Picture yourself studying as you repeat 鈥淚 am a good student.鈥
- Silence your inner critic. Don’t defeat yourself or argue for your limitations. Students can be particularly hard on themselves, analyzing every moment, being too sensitive to “mistakes” they might have made, etc. Remember, when you live inside your head, your head is the only information you’re getting– and it can be wrong. Just because you feel something, doesn’t make it true. When the inner critic talks, replace the damaging self-talk with a positive statement.
- Focus on your successes. What have you done well? What are three strengths you can focus on? The more you know about your strengths, the less you’ll be tempted to focus on your challenges.
- Keep repeating your affirmations. I had one taped to my steering wheel for a long time to practice.
Self-talk can help you as a student reduce stress and improve your study habits. Why not tape an affirmation like 鈥淚 am a successful college student鈥 or 鈥淚 can ace this class鈥 to your computer monitor?
