Using Positive Self-Talk and Affirmations

Self-talk is the internal dialogue we have going on in our heads all day every day. For most of us, lots of our self-talk is negative where we beat ourselves up, call ourselves names, and tell ourselves we’ll never be good enough. Negative self-talk can result in negative actions and behaviors. On the flip side, positive self-talk can result in positive actions and behaviors and can have a tremendous impact on our lives. Positive self-talk just takes a little more practice as it doesn’t just come naturally to most of us. There are many reasons why we want to practice more positive self-talk and make this a habit in our lives – it increases life satisfaction and vitality, improves our immune system, increases happiness and it even decreases our risk for illness and disease.

One way we can increase our positive self-talk is through affirmations. An affirmation is the action or process of affirming something. So for example, I could choose three self affirmation and repeat these affirmations to myself a few times every day. Examples of self affirmation are I love who I am, I can do anything, I am proud of who I am, I am confident and strong.

Any positive statement about yourself with “I” in front of it is a positive affirmation. Repeating positive affirmations every single day throughout the day can increase your positive self-talk and in turn, increase your overall health.

Even if you do not fully believe yet the affirmations that you are saying to yourself, that is all the more reason to continue to repeat them each and every day until you have retrained your brain to love and believe in yourself again.

Using Positive Self-Talk and Affirmations Tips

Write down and understand the benefits of positive self-talk and make a commitment to practice being kinder to yourself by participating in more positive self-talk

Think of the ideal version of yourself and what he/she would say about him or herself that would be extremely positive. Would they say something like “I am confident, “I am strong,” “I love who I am.”

Write down as many “I” affirmations as you want. Choose 1-2 affirmation each day to keep repeating to yourself during the day.

Looking into a mirror and repeating self-affirmations out loud can be very effective and beneficial.

Be practicing positive self-talk and affirmations each day, you will begin to see and believe these things about yourself that have been true all along.

Using Positive Self-Talk and Affirmations Key Takeaways

❖ Increased happiness and life satisfaction

❖ Increased confidence and health

❖ Write down a list of positive “I” affirmations

❖ Practice repeating 2-3 affirmations every day

❖ Always replace negative self-talk with positive self-talk