POSITIVE THINKING AND OPTIMISM

POSITIVE THINKING AND OPTIMISM

Self-talk is your internal dialogue. It is influenced by your subconscious mind and reveals your thoughts, beliefs, questions, and ideas.

Autosuggestion can be both negative and positive. It can be encouraging, or it can be distressing.

Much of your self-talk depends on your personality. If you are optimistic, your self-talk may be more optimistic and positive. The reverse is generally true if you tend to be pessimistic.

Positive thinking and optimism can be effective stress management tools. Indeed, having a more positive outlook on life can provide you with some health benefits.

Generally, optimists have a better quality of life.

Also, if you think your self-talk is too negative, or if you want to emphasize a positive self-talk, you can learn how to modify that self-talk. It can help you be a more positive person and it can improve your health.

1. Why is it good for you?

Autosuggestion can improve your performance and general well-being.

For example, positive self-talk can help athletes improve performance and endurance.

Additionally, positive self-talk and a more optimistic outlook may have other health benefits, including increased vitality, greater life satisfaction, improved immune function, reduced pain, better cardiovascular health, better physical well-being, reduced risk of death, less stress and distress.

Additionally, people with positive self-talk may have mental abilities that allow them, to problem solve, think differently, and be more effective in dealing with difficulties or challenges. Also, it can reduce the harmful effects of stress and anxiety.

2. How does it work?

Before you learn to practice self-talk further, you must first identify negative thoughts.

This type of thinking and self-talk generally falls into four categories:

• Personalization: You blame yourself for everything. • Exaggeration: You focus on the negative aspects of a situation, ignoring all the positive aspects. • Catastrophe: You expect the worst and rarely let logic or reason convince you otherwise. • Polarize: You see the world in black and white, or good and bad.

There is nothing in between and no common ground in processing and classifying life events.

When you begin to recognize your negative thought patterns, you can work to turn them into positive thoughts. This task requires practice and time and does not develop overnight. The good news is that it can be done.

3. Transform negative self-talk into positive self-talk: the following examples show when and how you can turn negative self-talk into positive self-talk.

Again, this takes practice.

Recognizing some of your own negative self-talk in these examples can help you develop skills to reverse thinking when it occurs.

• Negative: I will disappoint everyone if I change my mind.

Positive: I have the power to change my mind. Others will understand.

• Negative: I failed and embarrassed myself.

Positive: I'm proud of myself for trying. It took courage. • Negative: I am overweight and out of shape. That does not bother me.

Positive: I am capable and strong, and I want to be healthier. • Negative: I let everyone on my team down when I didn't score.

Positive: Sport is a team event. We win and lose together. • Negative: I have never done this before and I will be bad at it.

Positive: It's a wonderful opportunity to learn from others and grow. • Negative: There is simply no way it will work.

Positive: I can and will give everything to make it work.

4. How to use self-talk on a daily basis?

Positive self-talk takes practice if it's not already a natural instinct for you.

If you are generally more pessimistic, you can learn to modify your inner dialogue to be more encouraging and uplifting.

However, forming a new habit takes time and effort. Over time, your thoughts may change. Positive self-talk can become your norm.

The following tips may help you:

• Identify the pitfalls of negative self-talk: certain scenarios can increase your self-doubt and lead to more negative self-talk. Work-related events, for example, can be particularly challenging. Pinpointing when you encounter the most negative self-talk can help you anticipate and prepare.

• Check your feelings: stop during events or bad days and assess your self-talk. Is it becoming negative? How can you operate a U-turn?

• Use humor: laughter can help relieve stress and tension. When you need a boost for positive self-talk, find ways to laugh, like watching funny animal videos or a comedian.

• Surround yourself with positive people: whether you notice it or not, you can identify the gaze and emotions of the people around you, this includes negative people and positive people, so choose positive people when you can.

• Make positive affirmations to yourself: sometimes seeing positive words and phrases or inspiring images can be enough to redirect your thoughts. Post little reminders in your office, home, and anywhere you spend a lot of time.

5. When should I seek help?

Positive self-talk can help you improve your outlook on life. It can also have lasting positive health effects, including improved well-being and improved quality of life. However, self-talk is a lifelong habit.

In the event that you find that you are not successful on your own, talk to a therapist. Mental health experts can help you identify sources of negative selftalk and learn how to flip the switch.

Remember if you tend to have negative self-talk and lean towards pessimism, you can learn how to change that habit. It takes time and practice, but you can develop positive and uplifting self-talk. In fact, your success is a matter of attitude.

Recommended reading and references

We suggest that you consult the works identified below in order to learn more about the particularities contained in this chapter.

ELGIN, Suzette Haden. Ph.D. HOW TO DISAGREE WITHOUT BEING DISAGREEABLE. MJF Books. ISBN-10: 1-567731-739-1.

GREENE, Robert. THE 48 LAWS OF POWER. Penguin Books. ISBN: 978-01-14-028019-7

SHOOK, L. Robert. IMAGES DE GAGNANTS. Éditions; un monde différent. ISBN 2-90000-62-4.

SIMMONS, Harry. HOW TO TALK YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS. Prentice-Hall. 1954 – 43526.

SMITH, Hyrum W. THE 10 NATURAL LAWS OF SUCCESSFUL TIME AND LIFE MANAGEMENT. Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-51741-0.