Use These 3 Words to Kick Negative Self-Talk
A simple perspective switch
Maybe these thoughts sound familiar:
“I feel really nervous. I shouldn’t be so nervous.”
“I really messed up. I can’t do anything right.”
“I feel like I don’t fit in.”
“I’m being really lazy today.”
I have these types of pesky thoughts often. When we’re having a hard time, our brains usually don’t do much to help. Many of us are prone to negative self-talk: We mentally kick ourselves when we make mistakes, feel out of place, or don’t get as much done as we’d planned. We basically punish ourselves for being human, which means we’re punishing ourselves all the time.
But one day, when I was feeling particularly self-critical, I caught myself doing something that made me feel better. I tacked on three simple words to my negative thought:
… as humans do.
You can add these words to any judgment. Let’s try it with the thoughts above.
“I feel really nervous… as humans do.”
“I really messed up… as humans do.”
“I feel like I don’t fit in… as humans sometimes do.”
