Ok - I admit it, I talk to myself.
Mantras are talking to one’s self is a tool to keep on track. I am not talking about meditation mantras. (although I am also a believer in meditation).
I am a great believer in self-talk. We tend to listen to what we have to say. Self talk can be positive and reinforcing or it can be negative.
I do not talk to myself all the time and I tend to change what I say to myself depending on the circumstances and what I want to accomplish.
Some of the simple mantras that I use:
"Successful People do Tough Things" – When I dread something but need to get through it regardless. I view myself as a successful person so this prompts me to get going and keep going.
"What the heck, go for it anyway" – This one is useful when building up courage to do something. The scenarios are endless, negotiating with a company about a charge or cost of an item, making new friends, starting a project even when a odds may be stacked against you etc.
"I am very healthy, I heal very quickly" – Half the battle with regard to health is in the mind. I am by no means making the suggestion to forgo medical treatment if there is something legitimately wrong with you, but a little positive reinforcement can go a long way.
"Garbage in, garbage out" – Useful for poor eating habits, media garbage (not meant to slam all media - some is good), bad TV (that would be most of it which is why I watch very little), bad reading etc.
"I honor my mind and body" (or when I am in Canada "I honour my mind and body") - same as the Garbage in, garbage out one.
"Back to Work" This simple mantra helps me regain focus. Often I can become distracted from my top priority. This gets me back on track.
One of my "Success Habit - Mantras" is "I can do better" (from The Magic of Thinking Big by Dr. David J. Schwartz)...as there is usually room for improvement no matter how minor...then I ask "how can I do better?"
ReplyDeleteOne of the power of mantras, or any type of focusing, is the way it can focus your mind to a given perspective. This can be true whether the mantra or image is negative or positive in nature. I know that Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) is really focused on this topic. A lot of people swear by it. I myself prefer to be less adamant about self talk then NLP's; but I would rather think about positives I want to move towards than stuff I want to avoid. Such as "Back to work." rather than, "Stop goofing off." Thanks for reminder about the power of a word or phrase to focus us.
ReplyDeleteI love that you spell as you think and so have to have Canadian and American ones :) You're the best.
ReplyDeleteI find that Louise Hay has some great words of wisdom that I use for my mantras. Thanks for reminding me to keep it up!