How To Change Your Self Talk – Part 3: Think New Thoughts!

Now you know how to listen to your thoughts and challenge them, it’s time to change your self talk.

Follow the five steps below to find out how.

1.    Decide how you want your thoughts to sound. Write down these words in your Mindset Journal:

• Self-accepting
• Realistic
• Flexible
• Positive*
• Helpful
• Non-judgemental
• Solution-focused

Now come up with a few terms that resonate with you.

2.    Each time you tune in to your inner radio and notice that your self talk is unhelpful, challenge that thinking.

Use the steps I outlined in my previous two posts to listen to your thoughts and challenge them.

3.    Thank your unconscious mind for working hard on your behalf and inform it that you are choosing to think in a different way.

Don’t criticise yourself for having less than helpful self talk. Simply tell yourself that those thoughts are no longer needed.

Then ask youself: What could I think instead that would be more constructive, and would give me a better outcome?

Your unconscious self is programmed to follow instructions from your conscious self. Trust your mind: if you ask for its help and instruct it to come up with a better alternative, it will respond.

When coming up with your new thoughts, ask yourself if they fit the criteria you outlined in step 1.

4.    Now think the new thought with energy and determination.

You may feel strange and self-conscious at first but persevere with thinking these new thoughts that your mind has generated. Repeat them to yourself and connect to the emotions you want to feel (e.g. relaxed instead of stressed, calm instead of angry, loving to yourself rather than unkind, etc.).

Notice how your feelings change when you think consciously and energetically. This is because your thoughts and beliefs create your emotions. If you think the new thoughts with passion and vigour, repeating each new one several times, your emotions will inevitably change too.

5.    Decide what you want to achieve from your improved self talk.

What would you like to change? Write down a couple of goals to focus on for now, e.g.:

• I want to make my business more profitable.
• I want to change my attitude to money.
• I want to stop criticising myself and be more self-accepting.
• I want to feel less stressed and be able to relax more.
• I want to feel better about my body and become more healthy.
• I want to ditch my awful job and start my own business.

Don’t pursue too many goals at once or your subconscious mind could become overloaded.

TODAY’S TASK: Follow the 6 steps above.

Transforming the voice in your head can have a profound effect not just on your business, but every area of your life. If you regularly practise tuning in, challenging and changing your thoughts, it won’t take long before your self talk becomes much more helpful.

The key is REGULAR PRACTICE. It’s the first step to becoming an expert at managing your mindset.

As you go through the process, keep a note of progress in your Mindset Journal.

• What effect is changing your thoughts having?
• What difference do you notice in your mood?
• What do you still need to work on?

Note: The 3 steps to changing your self talk are taken from my 3-part online programme: ‘Retune Your Inner Radio’.

Using these methods, I’ve seen my clients free themselves from persistent negative thinking, take a much more self-accepting view and become more solution-focused.

I’ll tell you more about ‘Retune Your Inner Radio’ soon.

Next we’re going to explore how your mind works.

If you have any questions about changing your self talk, please comment below, and Like this post if you’ve found it helpful.

* NB – Positive mindset is a great way to approach life, but this shouldn’t be confused with the extremist ‘positive thinking’ practices, which rule out any thoughts that are not relentlessly positive. This kind of thinking can be as irrational and unhelpful as relentless negativity.