How To Conquer Negative Self-Talk for Good
How we think of ourselves can be the biggest confidence booster or confidence killer. Learn how to control it before it controls you.
You all know I’m a huge fan of good tools (have you been to our Arsenal lately?).
But.
Even the most effective life and business tools will only get you so far without the confidence and positive mindset to power them up.
I firmly believe that this is what separates the 1% from the elite 0.01%—and what it takes to get to the top tip of the spear.
It’s not about hard work or great luck or good timing.
It’s about what you have to say for yourself—to yourself.
The truth is that you probably talk to yourself more than you realize. Most people do it when they’re trying to work through a problem, figuring out what to say, or if they’re reacting to something they’ve accomplished.
More often, though, we’re beating ourselves up about something.
Here’s the thing—the more we repeat negative thoughts to ourselves, the more we hardwire those words, feelings, and behaviors into our brains as “normal operating procedures.” Not only is it BS—it’s also not helpful.
The good news? It’s also not permanent.
Here are three ways to knock off negative self-talk—and remove this performance block from your runway.
Read The Power of TED. David Emerald’s incredible book explains how we can shift ourselves out of feeling victimized by the problems we face and instead see them as challenges we’re meant to solve. It’s a wonderful exercise in teaching how to be kinder to ourselves.
Flip the script. Imposter Phenomenon is when we feel like we’re fooling everyone with our capabilities or that we don’t really belong. It happens to the best of us (more often, in fact). That’s why we created this Imposter Tip Sheet to help you replace negative thoughts with positive ones. (It’s free—no email address needed!)
Discover the power of journaling. We go into more detail on this helpful (and healthy!) practice here, but for now, open up a fresh doc (or a fresh notebook) and just start writing. What happens when you put your thoughts, feelings, and day-to-day everything in writing? What words are you using? Would you talk to someone you loved in the same way?
All too often, the biggest barrier to our fastest acceleration and most exhilarating success isn’t the market, our education, or our circumstances.
It’s our mindset.
And it’s about damn time we get on the same team.
Bill covers topics like this (and then some) on LinkedIn all the time—connect and join the conversation!