What To Say When You Talk To Your Self

by Shad Helmstetter

Neither luck nor desire has the slightest thing to do with it. It makes no difference whether we believe it or not. The brain simply believes what you tell it most. And what you tell it about you, it will create. It has no choice.

Leading behavioral researchers have told us that as much as seventy-seven percent of everything we think is negative, counterproductive, and works against us.

We are ships with countless captains, all seeking to direct us on their own courses, for their own purposes, not even knowing they are leading our ships astray.

The more you think about yourself in a certain way, the more you will think about yourself in that same certain way.

“You’re just no good at that;” “Your room is always a mess;” “Can’t you do anything right?” “You’re just like your father” (which always seems to be said when the child has done something wrong); “Why can’t you be more like your sister (or brother)?” “You’ll never be an artist (or athlete, etc.);” “You just don’t try;” “You never listen to me;” “I tell you to do something and you do just the opposite;” “You never study;” “Your grades are atrocious;” “You talk too much;” “You always hang around with the wrong kind of friends;” “You don’t even know where home is anymore;” “You’re lazy;” “You don’t care about anyone but yourself;” “You’re determined to cause problems;” “You just don’t think,”

How you manage your self, what you do, how you act, each and every moment, every word you speak, motion you make, and action you take, or do not take, will determine how well anything in your life works for you. It does not take a wizard to tell us that when we do the right things, there is always a better chance that things will work better for us than when we do the wrong things.

Since whatever you believe about yourself will end up affecting what you do, you can be sure that if you believe that you are not as socially successful as you would like to be, your belief about yourself will turn out to be correct––whether it was true or not.

Name the adversary, state the problem, and you can find the self-talk that created it. But for every word of negative self-talk that has ever been uttered, there is the right kind of self-talk to counter it, reprogram, fix the problem, and make it right.

“I am one with the universe, and it is one with me. I am of it, within it, and exist as a shining spark of light in a firmament of divine goodness.”

Just wanting to be a positive thinker isn’t enough. Making the decision to have a positive attitude isn’t enough. You have to wire the new habit into your brain. The human brain says: “Give me the directions, the commands, the picture, the schedule, and the results you want. Then I will do it for you. Give me the words.”

It takes more than an hour or two to override the old programming and replace it with the new.

If you’d like to get motivated––and stay motivated––you have to have the right self-talk. The right self-talk creates internal motivation, which, because of the way the brain works, is the only kind of motivation that lasts.

Your internal coach is your strongest believer. With the right self-talk and the right programming, that coach will show you the best in yourself and help you achieve it. It will give you direction, strengthen your will, and give you belief. It should become your ultimate motivator. It is you.

No one will ever breathe one breath for us. No one will ever think one thought that is ours. No one will ever stand in our bodies, experience what happens to us, feel our fears, dream our dreams, or cry our tears. We are born, live, and leave this life entirely on our own. That “self,” and the divine spirit which drives it, are what we have. No one else can ever live a single moment of our lives for us. That we must do for ourselves. That is responsibility.

With active, daily self-talk, you, personally, are taking complete responsibility for yourself. You are consciously in control and in charge of the much broader scope of programs that affect every facet of your attitudes and your behavior.

Take a mental inventory of your attitudes––good and bad––and decide for yourself which of those attitudes work for you and which do not. The ones you don’t want to keep––throw out. Get rid of them. Keep the ones you like. Change the ones you want to change. Take charge of your attitudes. Put yourself back in control. The least that could happen is that you would get a little more of your real self back again.

I am in control of my feelings, my emotions, my attitudes, and my needs. I control them; they do not control me.

I have the winning vote in the outcome of my own actions. And I choose to live my life by choice, not chance. Therefore, I take the time to take control.

I have an organized and orderly mind. Because I think in an organized way, I conduct my life in an organized manner.

I think in the most positive and productive way at all times and in all things. The way I think is the way I live––and I think “right.”

I am the director of my destiny. I know where I am going and I know why I am going there. My earthly life is in my hands and in my control.