Our self talk has a huge impact on our outlook, emotion and well-being. It is also habitual, learnt and sometimes self destructive. How many times do we speak to ourselves in a less than compassionate way? A way in which we would never dream of speaking to another person! “I’m useless…. No good at anything…. Totally had it!…. etc.”
It can easily influence our energy levels and level of commitment… “ I’m always exhausted…. I hate going to work!”
No wonder we feel less than enthusiastic and listless.

However, by becoming aware of our self-talk, listening on purpose, we can play around with our choice of words to influence our whole way of being (our state).
I call this the game of “Losing Lexicon to Leading Lexicon”

The Game.
Spend 5 minutes (easy, right?) on waking and before sleeping listening “on purpose” to your self-talk.

The idea: Recognise negative patterns in your language
“I’m constantly stressed”- CHALLENGE -is it really ‘constant’? What is the reality? What would it be like to destress for 30 seconds? Have some fun : “Stressed in desserts backwards”

The solution: brainstorm alternatives for “stressed” that switch or transform your perspective.

“Challenged, exhilarated, cutting-edge, sharp, excited about change, sailing towards calm seas (metaphors), inventing new ways….”

Purposefully selecting words and phrases that empower you (Leaders Lexicon) rather than weaken you (Losers Lexicon): choosing words that are helpful in creating the way you truly want to be ( your desired state).

“ I am excited about making positive changes”, “I always have a choice!”
“I’m looking for calm…… I’m taking in the bigger picture”

Like every other learning/adapting/changing process it relies on a process or a series of action steps, of which the following diagram is an example.