Lets Talk, To Ourself

Lets talk about how we talk to ourselves. While this happens in so many ways verbally & nonverbally, consciously & unconsciously, and for so many different psychological and physiological purposes, lets just talk about how we speak to ourselves.

Lets call it Self Talk, what we actually say in our heads, or hey maybe even out loud to ourselves every day.

I first noticed my self talk in my training, mostly when things got tough, that it was always coming from a place of negativity. The “you should be better than this” instead of the “you got this”. The more I became aware of it in my workouts the more I realized my negative self talk was present in most of my conversations with myself, whether over losing my keys or some small decision I had made that day, even in little things, the constant conversation with my self was rarely supportive, and never grace giving.

Now, as a competitor, I wouldn't say this is abnormal and some may even say thats just a type of “mental toughness” and being “soft” on yourself won’t get you very far in the realm of being the best at any trade.

So lets just pretend we do not care about emotional happiness or psychological well being, just performance for a second, and lets look at the effects of self talk physiologically.

Negative self talk releases CORTISOL, and stress hormone, as well as other stress hormones and elevates your total body fight or flight levels within minutes. Cortisol, is not only catabolic in nature but effects the out put of your “upper” hormones, two of the big ones being testosterone and serotonin.

Low T & Serotonin = catabolic effect on muscles, depression, low energy, & of course less bedroom fun. (YES ALL OF THESE IN WOMEN TOO!)

And thats just on a hormonal level, let alone how the conversations you have with yourself over time effect your bravery, boldness, confidence, gratitude, relationships, and desires.

Heres a brain exercise -> Pick a day and create awareness of EVERYTHING you think or say to yourself, and whether it is affirming or destructive, and think about if you were talking to someone you loved and respected immensely, would you say the same thing to them?