When the checker at the store says, “I love that blouse on you,” every time you put that blouse on you smile fondly at that memory. Every time you go to the hairdresser and choose “just a trim,” you remember the kid in third grade who told you that you looked like a boy after you got a new haircut. Single interactions, one sentence from a stranger, can set the tone for your day. It can set a specific style or activity for the rest of your life. So what about how we talk to ourselves? What are we telling ourselves every day, and how is it affecting our health?
Our internal dialogue frames our daily lives, the choices we make, and the paths we follow. Too often, that dialogue is negative. We tell ourselves we aren’t good enough, we don’t deserve it, and we give up. But we can change that. We can make conscious choices every day to be happy, to see the positive, to give ourselves grace.
So how do you change your internal dialogue to be more positive? Let’s look at five things you can start doing right now to improve your health with positive self-talk.
Five Steps To Improving Your Health With Positive Self-Talk
There are simple practices you can add to your daily routine that will shift you into a more positive mindset. A more positive mindset means better mental health and a healthier you.
Daily Affirmations
Make time every day to say out loud at least three positive things about yourself. It can be the same three things every day; “I have the power to make today great” “I am in charge of how I feel today, and I choose happiness.” Or it can be three different things each day, broad or specific.
Re-framing Your Thoughts
Consciously re-frame your thoughts, and soon you will naturally have a more positive internal dialogue. Spilled coffee on your shirt? Tell yourself, “Well, I guess it’s time to go shopping!”
Random Acts of Kindness
Making others happy will cause feelings of happiness in you. It is tough to see another person smile a genuine smile and not find yourself doing the same. Send positivity into the Universe. Sharing positivity creates a beautiful chain reaction of positivity. Tell yourself, “It felt really good to make that person smile today by holding the door open for them.”
Giving Yourself Grace
Perfection is not a real thing. We all have hard days; we all make mistakes, say, or do things we wish we hadn’t. Learn to forgive yourself. Beating yourself up about it will only start the downward spiral. Instead, give yourself grace. Acknowledge what happened and move forward. If you ate that carton of ice cream that wasn’t part of your eating plan, it’s okay. Acknowledge what led you to eat it and then enjoy the ice cream and move on! It doesn’t mean the whole day or week or plan is a wash. It doesn’t mean you give up. Tell yourself, “It’s okay. I like ice cream, and it was my favorite flavor. I enjoyed it. It is okay that I enjoyed it. I can still make healthier choices most of the time. Perfection is not a real thing. I am still on track to being a healthier me.”
If you said something to a friend you wish you hadn’t, give yourself grace. We all say things we don’t mean sometimes. Apologize to your friend, and forgive yourself. Tell yourself, “I forgive you, I was angry, and I let my emotions get the best of me. It is okay, and I am still a good person.”
Giving Others Grace
Just as you should give yourself grace, give it to others as well. However, that doesn’t mean you should ever allow people to mistreat you. It means you should remember that we are all human, and we make mistakes. You never know what battles someone else is fighting.
Practicing one or more of these things every day will help you compliment yourself the way you already compliment others. By now, you’ve learned that words are much more than just letters smooshed together. They can change the way we feel, and they can sway our actions.
Let’s look at some ways improving positive self-talk can improve your health.
How Positive Self-Talk Improves Your Health
Positive self-talk starts a pretty incredible snowball of health and happiness. It may seem silly that talking to yourself can have such a significant impact, but try it. Try it for one week, then come back and comment on how many of the following points happened for you.
Mental & Emotional Health
- Hearing positive things about yourself (especially from yourself) will improve your mental health by bringing on feelings of happiness, pride, and accomplishment.
- You will smile more, which will continue your positive emotions. It’s science.
- Others will notice your smiles and happy demeanor and be more positive in your presence because happiness is contagious!
- As you create a habit of happiness, you will naturally start to see the positive things before the negative.
- You will know how to change negatives into positives. Not every day will be puppies and rainbows. Still, when you have a positive internal dialogue, you will better navigate the hard days.
Environmental Health
- You will naturally distance yourself from toxic people, places, and habits. The more positive you are to yourself, the easier it is to see which things make you feel the opposite.
- You will seek out new and/or more positive people, places, and habits. You will go towards things that bring you happiness because happiness is addicting!
Physical Health
- Stress eating will become a thing of the past as you learn to manage your emotions better. You will know that perfection is not a real thing, and it is okay to indulge sometimes. You will do so without guilt.
- Better mental health will spill over into making healthier choices to nourish your body.
- You will want to go out and do things you enjoy more, naturally making you more active.
- It will be easier to take care of yourself, your body, because you love yourself, and you know you deserve it.
Social Health
- You will remove yourself from toxic relationships as you learn you deserve better.
- It will be easier for you to build new, positive relationships. Your positivity will attract positivity.
- You will have more interest in doing things and sharing what makes you happy with others.
- You will want others to feel this newfound internal joy, which will lead you will share it.
Sharing happiness and positivity is the best gift. It doesn’t mean you need to give a happiness seminar to everyone you meet. It can be as simple as complimenting a stranger or even just smiling at them. It can mean taking the time to listen to someone and listen. It can mean showing someone how to give themselves grace when they’ve made a mistake by offering forgiveness.
All of this starts with you and the self-talk you give yourself. The chain reaction is real, try it, and you will see. Then share it! Coburg Fit Club is excited to support you in your journey to a happier, healthier life. Come see us!