024: The Power of Positive Self Talk

This week's blog is written by Resonance Ed's Creator of Coaching Content, founder of Plan Z Professional Learning Services, and co-author of the book The Minimalist Teacher, Tammy Musiowsky-Borneman.

Children often get to view the world through rose-colored glasses. There are only a few years of this pure innocence, positivity, and self-confidence that sometimes fades with societal pressure, stress, and unrealistic expectations. 

As adults, we sometimes do not even realize how we become more skeptical and cynical, nor do we realize the impact it has on our self-worth, as well as others. 

When I was teaching in a challenging circumstance several years ago, I had to work hard to shift my negative thoughts to ones that would better serve me as well as my colleagues and students. Because there were external forces that were challenging, I began internalizing those hardships, telling myself I wasn’t good enough to handle those forces. I had to begin thinking about myself, and my skillset in a different and more productive way. I knew there were structures and actions I needed to sharpen, but I needed to also develop a sense of inner strength and confidence to help me through adversity. 

Positive self-talk is a powerful tool. “It’s not about narcissism, or deceiving ourselves into thinking things that are inaccurate. It’s more about showing yourself some self-compassion and understanding for who you are and what you’ve been through (Jantz, 2019).” While positive self-talk can feel like ego work, it helps us reach the point of realization that we CAN actually do those hard things when we feel like we can’t. 

When I realized this several years ago, I started to changed​ my thought patterns. Instead of thinking about how long and challenging I anticipated my day would be, I decided to focus on short chunks of time, rather than the entire day. Thinking about an entire day would wear me out and make me feel overwhelmed before I even got out of bed. 

My morning getting ready routine was its own event. As I got ready for the day, I would tell myself, “I am having a good start to my day”. My journey to school was a separate event. I would tell myself, “I like driving to school with co-teacher in the mornings”, and so on. These simple phrases, and others, shifted my thinking away from the negative, helping me get my days started off with a more positive frame of mind. 

 Reference

What is Positive Self-Talk on PositivePsychology.com