Self-talk

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According to the Mayo Clinic, "Positive thinking just means that you approach unpleasantness in a more positive and productive way. You think the best is going to happen, not the worst."[1]

According to HealthDirect: "Self-talk is the way you talk to yourself, or your inner voice. You might not be aware that you're doing it, but you almost certainly are. This inner voice combines conscious thoughts with inbuilt beliefs and biases to create an internal monologue throughout the day."[2]

Making one's self-talk employ more positive thinking and employing more constructive/realistic/problem solving/creative thinking is better for one's physical/mental health and increases one's performance at tasks.[3][4][5]

Self-talk and sports psychology

See also: Sport psychology

According to McLeod Health, in sports psychology, "Self-talk is defined as the verbalization or statements athletes repeat to themselves prior to or during skill execution (Begley, 2012). Performing these techniques can improve focus and slow the brain down, giving it the ability to devote more “power” to the specific task at hand."[6]

Usain Bolt avoids thinking about his weaknesses before a race. Sometimes he thinks about how he will celebrate if he wins.[7]

Usain Bolt beating Tyson Gay and setting a 100 meter world record at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin, Germany.

Runners World magazine indicates concerning self-talk:

“ Most runners have experienced race-day jitters. You spend months training, building self-confidence and fitness, and then as you get closer to the race—boom, the excited butterflies have turned into crippling competition anxiety.

It’s completely normal, says sports psychologist Stephen Gonzalez, Ph.D., assistant athletics director for leadership and mental performance at Dartmouth College. Your natural fight-or-flight instincts kick in when you’re anticipating the start.

According to Gonzalez, anxiety comes from the unknown: “Prior to a competition, we have an idea of what we might be able to do, but it's still uncertain—because you have to show up and still be able to do it.”

...Firstly, Gonzalez says to pay attention to how you talk to yourself before a race. He poses an example: Maybe you look around on the starting line and notice there are many fast runners around you. Then you start to wonder if you could keep up with their pace. That evolves into fear that you won’t be able to stay with them when you’re out on the course.

Those are ineffective thoughts, meaning they don’t help you perform. Gonzalez recommends actively turning them into effective thoughts. For example, instead of focusing on others, remind yourself about your training and what you’re capable of accomplishing. Think back on all the runs, workouts, and efforts you put into this training cycle, and let that boost your self-confidence, knowing you made it this far and the race is a celebration of what you’ve already done.

He warns not to simplify self-talk as positive or negative: “You can have a negative thought that’s productive. I’ve been in races where I've fallen off the back and said to myself, get your head out of your butt and get up there… Was it positive? No, but it served me in a way that was facilitative.”[8]

”

How to do positive self-talk effectively

See also: Self-awareness and Mindset and Evidence-based thinking and Positive thinking and Negative thinking and Optimism and Pessimism and Evidence-based thinking and Critical thinking and Logic and Mindfulness and Gratitude and Journaling and Self-care and Social influence and Social intelligence and Social networking

To engage in self-talk practice the following:[9][10]

1. Actively listen to your thoughts throughout the day.

2. Recognizing both positive and negative internal dialogues. Focus on recognizing negative thoughts, actively challenging them with realistic and evidence-based positive affirmations, and consistently replacing negative self-talk with more constructive statements that feel authentic to you; this can involve practicing gratitude, mindfulness, and journaling to track your thoughts and progress, while also seeking support from others when needed

3. Consciously choosing to replace negative self-talk with more positive, constructive and supportive statements that feel authentic to you, often by reframing situations and challenging unhelpful beliefs. This can involve practicing gratitude, mindfulness, journaling to track your thoughts and progress, while seeking support from others when needed.

4. Talking to yourself in your head with the intention to influence your mindset and emotions

Positive affirmations

See also: Positive affirmations and Motivation and Self-motivation and Self-Confidence and Self-efficacy and Courage and Self-management and Achievement orientation

"Positive affirmations are phrases or words that people say to themselves to replace negative thoughts with positive ones. They can help people feel more motivated, confident, and encourage positive changes in their lives."[11]

Articles on positive affirmations:

Science and positive affirmations:

Videos:

Self-talk and metacognition

See also: Metacognition and Self-awareness and Self-regulation and Motivation and Self-motivation and Evidence-based thinking and Planning and Concentration and Emotional intelligence and Organizational skills and Decision making and Problem solving and Prioritization and Accelerated learning and Achievement orientation and Peak performance and Results orientation

"Self-talk is a form of metacognition, which is the practice of thinking about one's own thoughts. Self-talk can be a healthy way to increase motivation and regulate emotions."[12] See also: Self-motivation and Self-regulation

Cambridge International Education indicates: "Metacognition describes the processes involved when learners plan, monitor, evaluate and make changes to their own learning behaviours."[13] See also: Accelerated learning

Done constructively metacognition and self-talk can help one improve the quality of one's thoughts, better organize one's thoughts, better process information, and improve one's decision making. It can also help one improve one's concentration, problem solving skills, and motivation.

Self-talk: Research and journal articles

Research

Videos:

Journal articles

Books

  • Negative Self-Talk and How to Change it by Shad Helmstetter Ph.D, Park Avenue Press (May 13, 2019)
  • What to Say When You Talk to Your Self by Shad Helmstetter Ph.D, Grindle Pr Audio (January 1, 1986)

Quote

"It's the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen." - Muhammad Ali

See also

External links

Improving self-talk:

Notes

  1. ↑ Positive thinking: Stop negative self-talk to reduce stress
  2. ↑ Self-talk
  3. ↑ Self-talk
  4. ↑ Positive thinking: Stop negative self-talk to reduce stress
  5. ↑ Optimize your self-talk for peak performance, Champ, Uniformed Services University
  6. ↑ Sport Psychology: Self-Talk, McLeod Health
  7. ↑ How the world’s fastest man Usain Bolt mentally prepares for a race CNBC
  8. ↑ How to Deal With Competition Anxiety, Runners World
  9. ↑ How do you engage in self-talk
  10. ↑ Best practices for positive self-talk
  11. ↑ What are positive affirmations?
  12. ↑ Self-talk and metacognition
  13. ↑ Getting started with Metacognition
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