I love this article, shared by my friend, Lorena, who has been wonderfully supportive. The article is about negative self-talk and how you will become a reflection of how you talk to yourself.
I’ve been guilty of saying all five of these things to myself at some time or another, but the biggie for me right now is “I can’t do it,” mostly in relation to workouts. Since day one, there have been things my trainer has asked me to do, and I said out loud – not just to myself – “I can’t do that.” Those things have changed as I’ve progressed, but I said it just two Sundays ago, when George set me up to do hanging abs.
Luckily, my trainers won’t take “I can’t do that” for an answer and push me to do that very thing I didn’t think I could do. I may not be able to do it perfectly the first time, and I usually can’t do three full sets at first, but I can do it and eventually get a lot better.
Are you guilty of one of these five self-talk no-nos? Is there another negative phrase you use? How has self-talk hindered you in the past? Do you use positive self-talk?
In working out with a trainer, I usually go for “Let’s give it a try”, and when the trainer asks me if I’m ready (like for another set), I almost always say, “I’ll just pretend like I am”, and get going. Gives me a giggle, and I usually find out that I was ready enough to do it. 🙂