I don't know about you but I don't like it when other people say negative things about me. They can do it in all kinds of ways. They can be mean to your face or behind your back. Either way it's hurtful.
Well most people don't like it when others say negative things about them, they wish they would just take it back, wipe it away or replace it with something positive, but they can't - its already been said.
What about the negative things we to yourself about ourselves? How much time have we taken to look at this issue.
Did you know that most of the things we say to ourselves about ourselves is negative, that's approximately 86%. Put downs and negative self talk not only make us unhappy and discouraged, they become huge roadblocks to getting us what we want.
Our subconscious mind - which is responsible for most of our behaviour - can't tell the difference between the truth and a lie. It sets about to ensure that whatever we have told it becomes fact. So, for example, if I said, "I"m never going to pass this exam", my subconscious would make sure I write something wrong in the paper. It is true; we can't get positive results if we say negative things about ourselves.
Negative self-talk usually begins with, "I cant - or "I"ll never - or "if only I -.
Do any of these sound familiar:.
- I can't speak in front of a group.
- I can't dance.
- I"m not good at math.
- I"ll never understand this stuff.
- I"m not smart enough.
Statements such as these affect the way we look, act and feel. Although we don't realise it we change the way we act to suit other people. In different environments we act the way the people around us expect us to.
Do we act differently around our friends than we do our family? How do we know which of these personalities is really us? Because we are so complex we show different sides to our personalities to many different groups, our friends, our family, our teachers.
Sometimes we don't even agree with ourselves.
