"We control with our own minds most everything in our lives, including our health, our careers, our relationships, and our futures." It's a startling hypothesis that Shad Helmstetter explores in his book What to Say When You Talk to Yourself and in uncertain times like we are experiencing today, an idea that is comforting if we can embody it.
If you don't believe what you say to yourself and what you focus on dictates multiple things in your life try this experiment: ask someone to count to ten in their head and DON'T STOP, then ask them a question after a few seconds. It can be any question: what color is the sky, what is their middle name, etc, and when they answer ask what number they got up to. The answer is always the same: they didn't get to 10.
Now why didn't they get to 10? Because your mind can't hold two thoughts at once, which is why what you say to yourself and what you absorb in your mind influences your life. If you are constantly thinking about negative things, like pouring all your focus on COVID-19, then your days are going to look pretty glum. If you fill your brain with positive things and think positive then your outlook on life is going to be a lot brighter.
So how do you keep your self talk strong and maintain a positive mindset during uncertain times? Follow these tips below:
1. Create a morning ritual that includes positive affirmations:
The beginning of your day is what sets the tone of the rest of your day. Beginning your day with positivity by saying affirmations will help you overcome negative and self-sabotaging thoughts. Affirmations are positive statements that you say, either about yourself or the desires you wish to be true.
2. Use books, audios, and videos to overload your brain with positivity:
There are millions of amazing books, podcasts, and videos that you can absorb from people who have a positive outlook on life. One of our favorite things to do is listen to audios because you can literally listen to them while cooking breakfast or cleaning.
3. Change the words you use:
Words have power, so the words we speak have a ton of influence on our outlooks on life. Try replacing words like can't with can, and hard with challenging (because you can overcome challenges), you'd be surprised out how quickly you'll start to feel better.
4. Hang out with positive people:
You are the average of the 5 people you associate with most, which is why during stressful times you definitely don't want to hang out with folks who focus on stress and negative things. If you're feeling down, hang our with people who bring you up.
5. Interrupt your negative thoughts:
As we proved earlier, your mind can't hold two opposing thoughts at once. It's hard to be a constantly positive person because the reality is that negative thoughts will jump up from time to time, but when they do you have the power to stop them in their tracks. When you start to notice negative thoughts choose something to say out loud that is either totally random, or brings some happiness with it. Something as simple as humming happy birthday will do the trick!
We hope these tips help you manage the stress of uncertain times. Always remember that there is always a rainbow on the other side. Spring is coming, and uncertainty doesn't last forever.
