‘I can’t believe I was that stupid!’
‘I’m so dumb.’
‘There is no way I can ace that test.’
‘I’m not worthy of him/her.’
‘I don’t deserve to be loved.’
Do those phrases sound familiar to you? That is the negative self-talk that we love to indulge in when we think we are not worthy. The event that causes it lasts a few minutes, but the lingering effect of this dialogue can last for years if it is not curbed.
The thing is, everyone screws up. The difference between them and you is that they don’t dwell on them but move forward with their lives. Unlike them, you look down on yourself whether you hurt someone’s feelings without meaning to (she must hate me now), burnt dinner (I can’t do anything right), locked yourself out of your car (I am such an idiot) etc.
These accidents and mistakes may repeat themselves and each time they do, you blame yourself rather than taking steps to prevent them. In fact, that’s why you keep repeating those mistakes in the first place. By refusing to acknowledge the fact that you made a mistake, you prevent yourself from learning from them. That memory is blocked so you end up making the same errors leading to another bout of negativity.
You cannot avoid mistakes your whole life but you can learn from them. However, your mind will not learn new things if it is filled with negative thoughts regarding your potential. Words cannot change reality, but they can change the way we think about ourselves.
That is why negative self-talk can have an adverse effect on all aspects of our lives and on our body. As those thoughts keep looping in our head like a broken record, they alter the way we see reality and affect our mood that way. If left uncurbed, this can have an impact on our cardiovascular health, digestion, motivation levels and drive.
What is YOUR Self-Talk Saying and How Hypnotherapy helps
With time, negative thoughts and emotions become part of our character so much so that we don’t even notice it. If that is you then chances are you don’t think you are negative at all. That’s because self-talk, whether it is negative or positive is deliberate. It is the result of fears and beliefs that shape our perception of the people and world around us.
You cannot silence your mind, but you can change what it says to you through a bit of rewiring. Hypnotherapy induces a calm state of mind that can silence those negative thoughts long enough to help you replace them with positive ones.
It does this by redirecting the attention of the subconscious and conscious mind at points where negative self-talk causes damage to self-esteem. The result is a newfound awareness and understanding that leads to forgiveness and changes the way you talk to yourself. In order to induce that change, you need to be willing to change for the better and that is what hypnotherapy can help you realise.