Is Your Self Talk Holding You Back?

Are you conscious of your own self talk? Is it holding you back or even sabotaging your fitness goals? For many of us, our negative self talk keeps pace with our haters.

It’s bad enough once our haters emerge (and they usually do). But to add our own negativity and doubt to the mix is just crushing. Maybe you aren’t even aware that you’re doing it.

Have you ever thought to yourself any of the following?

• This is hard!
• What if I mess up?
• I’ll never reach my goals.
• I can’t do this!

That kind of self talk is insidious. It creeps around in your brain seeding it with all the trappings for failure. Sure, it’s natural to think those things. You’re human. But don’t allow that kind of thinking to continue. Catch yourself when you’re thinking such thoughts, acknowledge it, and let it go…as in, leave it behind you. Counteract each thought with positivity. For example:

• This is hard! …Well, of course it’s hard. It’s supposed to be. Otherwise everyone would do it. But I’m not everyone and I’m going to do it because I am my own person.
• What if I mess up? …Guess what? I am gonna mess up at some point because I’m human and I make mistakes. But I’ll learn from it and move on.
• I’ll never reach my goals. …Never is a long time and I might not be able to reach my goal right this minute. But I can do baby steps. Even if all I can do is one baby step today, it’s closer than I was yesterday.
• I can’t do this! …I might not be able to do this right now, but I’m working on it and I will be able to do this eventually.

Most of negative self talk defeats you before you even get out of the gate. Learn how to turn it around. Especially the ‘I can’t do this’ statement. ‘Can’t’ is such a terrible word because it closes and deadbolts all of the mental doors of possibility. “I can’t do a pushup.” Okay, maybe right at this moment you have trouble doing them. So, change ‘can’t’ to “I’m currently struggling with pushups.” That small change in vocabulary acknowledges the difficulty but still leaves the door of possibility open for improvement.

Here’s the thing…your haters give you enough grief. Why in the world would you join them in bringing yourself down? Who needs enemies (haters) if you’re going to do it yourself?

Starting today, be super conscious of the things you think about yourself. Most people are pretty harsh without even thinking about it. Being conscious about self talk is tough. Most of us aren’t aware of the constant stream of mental babbling we do. But try for mental awareness and catch how many times you shoot yourself down. When you do, change the thought. Counteract it with positivity and possibility.