When you make a minor mistake at work or home, what do you say to yourself? Is it “I am so dumb”, I’m a clumsy idiot”, I’m so stupid”? Many of us have negative self talk! Did you know that how you talk to yourself affects your brain?
A thought, idea, feeling or memory are chemical and electrical responses in the brain forming a pathway. These pathways create neural networks which are the formation of programing within the brain. Hormones and neurotransmitters such as dopamine, epinephrine, serotonin, and cortisol are all directed by the electric impulses of these intertwining neural networks. The more you use certain networks, the stronger they become. Thus, the things you say to yourself can change how your brain is wired!
Dr. Shad Hemstetler in his book What To Say When You Talk to Yourself gives a great explanation and understanding of why the things we say to ourselves matter. Our behaviors come from our feelings. Our feelings come from our attitudes, attitudes come from our beliefs and our beliefs come from our programing, which occurs at a young age. Dr. Hemstetler has concluded that if you truly want to change the results of your behavior you must change your programing. This is accomplished through your self talk. You must be intentional about this process as your subconscious (where your programing is stored) controls 90% of what we say and do.
If you grew up in a "normal" household you would have heard "don't do that", "you might get hurt if you try", "your not good enough" or something negative about 150,000 times by your 18th birthday. If you grew up in a household that was not "quite normal" this number could increase significantly. On the other hand you possibly only heard "you are good enough", "failure is just a learning experience", "your talent shines" or something positive only 1,000 times. This difference is a major factor in how our subconscious is programed. If you want to change your brain and way of thinking your must change your programing. The difficulty is that you are the only one that can do it for yourself.
Change your self talk to the realistic and positive and you will change your brain. Our desire is to help you achieve your BEST BRAIN EVER!