Do you pay attention to how you speak to yourself? What are the recurring thoughts that take place in your head?
Whether you realize it or not, your inner dialogue is a powerful tool you can use to build the life you want. Every choice you make is decided by your inner voice, so it’s important to listen to what it says.
But what if you’re looking to reframe your inner dialogue? If you’re guilty of constant negative thinking, then you know it can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. The more you think and speak negatively, the less likely you are to exude confidence and achieve your goals. More importantly, you can’t live the life you want if you can’t think positively.
Here are 3 simple ways you can start working on reframing your inner dialogue today.
Practice Self-Awareness
You can’t change any habit or improve any situation without first having an awareness about it. Self-awareness is the conscious knowledge of a person’s own feelings, character, and motives. It’s easier to understand yourself and your behaviors by practicing awareness as much as you can.
You may not even realize how you talk to yourself, but this matters a great deal. If you’re your own worst critic, you probably spend a lot of time judging yourself and overthinking. Or, you might jump to the worst conclusion.
To overcome this behavior, you first need to acknowledge that the problem exists. From there, you can set goals to slowly reframe the way you speak to yourself. The more often you practice self-awareness, the more naturally it’ll come to you. Eventually, you’ll be more in tune with your feelings and can improve your overall emotional intelligence.
Avoid Absolutes
Do you catch yourself making absolute statements using words like “always” and “never?” These words water down your thinking by putting your thoughts in boxes without giving them the appropriate room they need.
Oftentimes, absolute statements aren’t correct and don’t apply to the truth. You might tell yourself that you “never” send emails on time or “always” forget to set your morning alarm, but that’s probably not true. Rarely does someone always or never do something.
It’s important to avoid using these statements in your everyday thinking because they aren’t truthful and lead you to negative thoughts. It’s an extreme all or nothing mentality that makes it difficult to move forward and think positively.
Set Healthy Boundaries
If you practice negative self-talk, it’s important to understand where these thoughts originated. This helps you make the necessary changes to your environment and relationships so you can live a fulfilling life.
It’s crucial to set healthy boundaries with yourself and the people around you. Constantly dealing with draining people and situations will leave you feeling overwhelmed and unhappy. It’ll also lead to a continued negative thought process.
Get comfortable with telling people “no” and not overexplaining yourself. If it makes you more unhappy than not, remove it from your life. It’s also helpful to acknowledge how you spend time on social media as this can greatly affect your inner dialogue. Unfollow people and accounts that make you unhappy or serve no purpose.
Over to You
If you want to start changing your inner dialogue, these tips will help you get started. It’s a game-changer to pay attention to your thinking patterns to ensure they lead you to a healthy, happy life. Otherwise, you might find yourself continuing negative patterns that stay much longer than they need to. How will you reframe your inner dialogue?