The mental edge- talking to yourself, what are you REALLY saying?

So we have been speaking of belief and how to believe in yourself.  today, i want to expand a little bit on what it is that we say to ourselves and how that affects you.

As I mentioned in a previous post, we all have something called a mindscreen.  Let's imagine for a moment what that might look like.  What would your mindscreen look like?  a blank white screen like in the theatres, a stand up one from your classrooms at school?  Or would it look like a big IMAX screen in which you could see and experience every detail?

Representation of a MindScreen

Image taken from: at.movingdesign.com.  

While this is an important concept to understand, it is not the point of today's post.  today's post is about what is it that we are saying to ourselves that may or may not be putting us on the path towards our desires, goals and dreams.  Today is about asking the question "How do you talk to yourself?"

I would venture to say that many times in life, you hear a voice, an inner voice, that tells you what you can and can't do, what you are or aren't going to do, and in it's own reality what you are or aren't capable of.  I am here to challenge that inner voice today and really help you take a look at how you are talking to yourself.

Our self-talk is a powerful determinant of what we get out of life.  How often have you been in a situation or a challenge and told yourself that you believe in something, or you can accomplish something, or you can achieve great things?  Then again, how often in life have you told yourself you don't believe in something, you don't think you can, or you don't think you are meant to achieve great things?   It is these words or thoughts that play into action in the universe.  remember there is a common theme throughout these first few posts about, what you tell yourself is what you become,  What you believe in about yourself will become your reality.  And yes, it is a recurring theme because so many of us need to hear the message of it.

Let's examine a situation I recently found myself in where I had to change the way i was talking to myself.  Recently I have been in a great deal of challenging situations in which it created issues of negativity and me listening to others and their lack of belief in what might be possible in a certain situation in my life.  I allowed this to get into my own thoughts and it made the challenges and obstacles that I didn't believe were there become more apparent.  I allowed myself to tell myself it was challenging, it was difficult, and that the situation was not the right situation for me.  I allowed the self talk to tell me where I didn't want to go rather than stopping myself and stop my self-limiting belief from coming into play.  i allowed myself to listen to what it was that was outside influence and not truly following what my heart had to say.  I followed what thoughts I was putting out there about i Can't rather than I can.  i put out there that it was too hard rather than it will work.  i told myself this can't happen to me or I didn't deserve this, when in reality I did.

I have recently been around people who are talking to themselves in a less than positive fashion and felt compelled to discuss what it means when we talk to ourselves.  Every time we say we can not, it reinforces that we can not.  Every time we say want instead of going to, we encourage more want rather than encouraging action to be taken.  Every time we say to ourselves we should rather than we will or i am going to, it again creates a lack of action.  You have to be careful about your selection of words within your conscious (and even subconscious) mind.  the words Can't, won't or shouldn't are all words that if you choose to talk to yourself with them, can destroy even the most beautiful of potential experiences in your life.  they can damage what we think of ourselves as well as the potential to be great.  they can limit what we think and keep our minds closed to opportunities.

What are you choosing to say to yourself,  what is it that when you look at a situation you think to yourself.  Do you CHOOSE to believe in yourself or do you CHOOSE to doubt ?

Your task if you choose to accept it after reading today's post is to write down a day's worth of statements you say to yourself.  I would encourage you to look at each situation that comes up throughout the day and write down the thoughts that come across as you experience the situation and the feelings that go with your thoughts.  I would also encourage you to allow yourself to talk how you would normally talk to yourself, and after looking at it, start to make adjustments if needed.