Heart-Centered Wellness Campaign - Week 3 - Eliminating Negative Self Talk

Welcome! It's that time again for our Heart-Centered Wellness Campaign! This week we will be discussing Eliminating Negative Self-Talk.

It's normal and natural to have an inner critic. After all, this part of your mind is a primitive survival mechanism that was created to help keep your ancestors alive. The inner critic makes its home in the amygdala part of your brain. The amygdala will release stress hormones whenever the brain perceives it's in danger. Since times have changed and we don't have to worry about being chased down by a lion and are not in constant danger, our inner critic has taken a new form: negativity bias. Negativity bias is when humans seek out negative information and disregard positive events and opportunities. Even though this part of your mind may seem annoying or inconvenient, in reality, it's just trying to help you and keep you safe. However, we do not want this part of us to completely control our lives and our decisions. Most of the clients that come into our office want our help to silence their negative self-talk. I would like to also offer some helpful and easy suggestions for you or the little ones in your life! While these exercises are easy, they do take constant work and focus. With time and focus, you will gain control over the negativity bias part of the mind and break free from the constant inner critic. We all have different parts of us and each part serves a purpose. Even the negative self-talk part of you is trying in some way to protect you.

1. Notice your critic and give your inner critic a name. You can give your inner critic a serious name or a silly one like Negative Nancy or Negative Nick. When “Negative Nancy” speaks up, you can say, "Thank you for sharing". Then disregard what "they" say because you know it's coming from an inner critic.

2. Do a reality check. Ask yourself, “Am I really in danger?” or “Is this really true?”

3. Change your perception. Ask yourself what you would say if your best friend or child was talking this way? You deserve the same level of consideration. What would your best friend, spouse, or child say if they heard your Negative Nancy voice? We sometimes can be our own worst enemy.

4. Embrace your imperfections! When successful individuals, such as CEOs and athletes are asked how they achieved all their success, they almost always give credit to their willingness to mess up, learn, and move on. Success is determined by how we respond to our failures or shortcomings.