The Importance of Paying Attention to Your Inner Dialogue

As you’ve learned so far, your inner critic can really hold you back. Once you start to internalize the messages your fear and doubt give you, it’s easy to fall into a pattern of avoiding anything that seems too difficult or scary. You truly can break this pattern. The key lies in learning to manage your inner dialogue. Keep reading to learn more about the connection between what you think and what you feel. You’ll discover tips for taking control of conversation and turning the dialogue around in your favor.

What You Tell Yourself Matters

The words you tell yourself really can have an influence on how you feel and behave. This internal dialogue can spiral into an incessant pattern of negative messages if you’re not careful. These words feed upon each other, and you end up telling yourself things that make you feel bad. While it’s true this can hold you back from trying new things or reaching specific goals, it can also have a negative effect on your daily mood. When you tell yourself something long enough, you start to believe it. Internal dialogue is powerful. It can lead to stress, anxiety, depression, and more. Often, what you tell yourself becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, and your words become truth.

How to Take Control of the Conversation

There is good news, though. As we’ve discussed, once you recognize the negative pattern of words, you can start to turn them around. Just as negative messages can make you feel bad, positive ones can improve your outlook. When you think more positively, you’ll start to feel more optimistic. Your actions will also reflect this positivity. So, take time to listen to the things you’re saying to yourself. Take notes of the common threads. Put a positive spin on things when you catch yourself saying mean things. Look for the reality and find ways to address the problem. Pay attention to how you feel when you turn your negative thoughts into more realistic and positive ones. Chances are you’ll immediately feel a little better. Use that feeling to guide future internal conversations.

Learning New Patterns Takes Time

Affirmations can be powerful. Once you start giving yourself pep talks and turning things around, it’s likely things will get better. You know the real person you are. Reminding yourself of your strengths can make it easier to shut your inner dialogue up. However, these things can take time. You’ve probably been telling yourself these things and tearing yourself down for a lifetime. Learning new habits requires repetition in order to put them in place. So, be gentle with yourself if you backslide. That’s to be expected. With practice, you’ll get there. Positive self-talk will replace the bad more often than not. You’ll see.

Keep this advice in mind when your inner dialogue gets to be too much.