How You Should Talk to Yourself if You Want to Improve Your Performance
Self-talk was once seen as something reserved for motivational gurus—perhaps you remember the SNL character Stuart Smalley staring into a mirror and proclaiming: “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!” But more people are learning that there are practical, measurable benefits to adopting a positive inner narrative. On Medium, Alan Trapulionis lays out the latest research on self-talk—and it’s enlightening.
Psychologists have only seriously begun analyzing self-talk in the last couple of decades, and here’s what we know:
1) Positive self-talk improves performance in most sports.
2) Questions like “Will I do this?” produce better results than statements like “I will do this.”
3) Using “we” in self-talk is better than using “I.”
4) Talking about yourself in third person is more effective than talking in first person.
5) Both motivational (“I will do this!“) and instructional (“See the target…straighten…
