Top Tips to Overcome Negative Self Talk
Develop Your Inner Strength
These are our top 6 tips to turn around that negative self-talk and create room for personal growth, hope and confidence:
Focus on strengths
we often think we have to fix our weaknesses but focusing on our strengths is just as important. Strengths are the unique ingredients that make up who we are.
The Little Voice in Our Head
We all have this little voice in our head. You know, the one that tells us we can’t do something, that we will fail if we try, that we are not kind enough, smart enough, that we don’t fit in, the list goes on.
What happens is often we try to fix our weaknesses, hide away or become someone we are not.
Sometimes it may help to look beyond these thoughts by focusing on the positives and our strengths instead. In doing so, we build on what’s within and who we already are.
Write it down
Have your ever written a pros and cons list and the cons list is longer than the pros? We often fixate on what we perceive are our faults. Ask yourself what are my passions, what do I love and enjoy?
What things give me positive energy?
This is the key. You need to start to identify your strengths, so write them down.
Believe the positive and start acting as if it were true
How we show up reflects the same energy back. So act like you’
Tell your own story using affirming words
Studies show that using positive words such as “love” or “peace” has the power to influence your mood and regulate physical and emotional stress.
Choose words that resonate to change your thinking and how you talk to others, words that make you feel better. Start by describing yourself in positive words. (Check out this study: Words Can Change your Brain, Pysch.central
Make it a daily practice
What makes a good day for you?
Can you design activities in your day to use your strengths?
Add something new to your daily routine. This can help bring energy, hope and self-confidence into your day.
Take action
Use your strengths at school, at work, in your relationships.
Can you create a passion project based on your strengths? You will find yourself feeling much more optimistic and this in turn will lead you to see the good in others.</
Conclusion
Cognitive sciences have revealed that some strategies are more effective than others. Retrieval, spaced and interleaved practices are some of these best techniques. However, research has also shown that most students still rely on ineffective strategies that are faster, easier and more common, but do not contribute to long-term learning.
Resources that embed good strategies into their methodologies are powerful tools to change this scenario. Online learning, for example, allows students to interact and engage with the material in ways that printed resources cannot, explicitly telling students about the different techniques and the reason why some of them work better than others is the first step to help pupils become more effective learners.
About the Authors
The bond between Hester Leung and Sema Musson and their experiences as young women and now mothers has led to the creation of The Being Brave Girls book series, including Being Brave, Being Brave Too and now The Being Brave Girls Strengths Cards.
Taking apart the challenges they had when they were growing up combined with seeing the struggles young girls face today and turning this into something positive for young women to enjoy.
