On March 2, 2023, we talked about Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the well in John
Chapter 4. We looked at how there are many things that the world throws into the well of our
souls which block the springs of living water. These blockages keep God’s Spirit from flowing
freely through us. Negative Self-Talk contributes to this blockage in our souls and with practice
over a period of time these negative statements can be turned into positive statements. The
following article can be found at https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/self-talk.
Self-talk is the way you talk to yourself, or your inner voice. You might not be aware that you're
doing it, but you almost certainly are. This inner voice combines conscious thoughts with inbuilt
beliefs and biases to create an internal monologue throughout the day. Self-talk is important
because it has a big impact on how you feel and what you do. It can be supportive and
beneficial, motivating you, or it can be negative, undermining your confidence.
Negative self-talk is when your inner voice is excessively negative, sounding more like an inner
critic. It is pessimistic and focuses on the bad. It erodes your confidence and stops you from
reaching your potential. It can make you feel like you are going to fail before you start. It can
sound like “I’m never going to be able to do this”, “I’m no good at this”, or “I’ve tried everything nothing works”. Negative self-talk can be repetitive and often does not reflect reality. It can
lead to rumination, which is repetitive with intrusive negative thoughts.
Your self-talk can affect your mental health and your relationships with others. If you mainly
think negatively about yourself, you will feel bad most of the time. This can drag you down or if
you’re down, it can be hard to get back up. Negative self-talk is often experienced by people
who have depression or anxiety. The constant negative chatter can be overwhelming and
difficult to break out of. Negative self-talk can make it more difficult to deal with chronic pain.
It can also affect a person’s sexual confidence and body image. Negative self-talk can lead to
stress and a tendency towards perfectionism.
Tips to stop negative self-talk
Negative self-talk can become repetitive and overwhelming and often feels like it’s true. To
break out of that cycle try these tips:
It can take some time to recognize your negative thoughts — remember they have been part of
you for a long time and it can take up to 3 months to change old habits. Over time though you
can replace the unhealthy negative thoughts with more positive ones. Practice makes it easier.
If you mainly think positively about yourself, you will feel good and optimistic most of the time.
Research shows that positive self-talk can: