Self Sabotage: How - Negative Self Talk

Everyone talks to themselves. We have a constant stream of conversation going on inside our heads. This "self talk" makes assessments about our performance when doing tasks ("I really wrote a great report!"), makes assessments of other people ("How could that driver be so careless?"), and generally comments on what happens to us during the course of the day.

It’s difficult to succeed at anything when we have a constant stream of criticisms, name calling, insults, and derogatory remarks directed at ourselves. Those of us who were raised in hypercritical families may have internalized the way they spoke to us and now speak to ourselves in the same negative, self-defeating ways. For example, "I can do anything right", "I totally flubbed that", "What's wrong with me?", "I'm such a loser", etc. If we constantly tell ourselves how stupid we are, that we will never have the confidence we need to get anywhere. If we tell ourselves that we don’t deserve anything we won’t be able to show up to apply for it or ask for it.

I will be posting more articles on this blog regarding Self Talk and how to address it.