Leaving the Classroom: A Transitioning Teacher Podcast

3 Ways to Harness the Power of Self-Talk 

Self-talk, if harnessed appropriately can become powerful. Research has shown that talking to yourself out loud can motivate you to move forward with your goals, help you focus on a task, and get rid of self-criticism. Today I talk about self-talk and 3 ways to use it to your advantage.

Listen to the episode here:

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 Enjoy the podcast transcription:

Hello, everyone. Welcome to leaving the classroom. I'm Kristi Oliva. I'm so glad you're here. Today I'm talking about self talk, and how to use it to your advantage. By the time you listen to this podcast, chances are you have probably already experienced many of your daily 50,000 thoughts. Did you know that you had 50,000 thoughts a day? Doesn't really surprise me honestly.

For me, I'm a worrier. So I tend to get worst case scenario, in my thoughts. I map out all the directions it could go and prepare myself for each of the terrible ways it could end. If it sounds unhealthy, you're right. Don't worry, I'm working through it with my therapist. But that self talk, if harnessed correctly, can really be powerful. But you have to take your self talk and turn it into conversations with yourself out loud. Stay with me.

Research has shown that talking to yourself out loud can motivate you to move forward with your goals, help you focus on a task, and get rid of self criticism. Who knew all you crazies out there like me who just talked to themselves all the time, we get to use this to our advantage. Gary Lupyan from University of Wisconsin-Madison calls this phenomenon, feedback hypothesis. He and his team conducted an experiment asking people to go through a stack of photographs and look for a photo of a particular assigned object. And get this, if they said the name of the object out loud while they were looking for it, they tended to find the image faster. Now I know I've done this, tell me you've done this. Have you ever been driving around using GPS as your guide and you turn down the radio when you get close to finding a street in order to focus better? I know that I found myself saying the name of the street or the street address out loud as I search, I've been using this phenomenon. And athletes use the same strategy to improve their performance.

There was a study that showed that basketball players who said motivational affirmations to themselves like I can make this shot, I can make that shot, I can steal the ball while they played performed better than those who didn't. Well, like those basketball players. Talking through whatever you may be going through, can help you get intentional and motivated.

There's a kind of focus that comes from talking to yourself out loud. Psychologists call it selective attention. We all know what that is and it means exactly what you think it does, is when you choose to focus on one thing at a time. By choosing to focus your attention on a specific theme or idea, you elevate that intention, it makes it all the more easier to harness your focus for you. Thinking about talking to yourself is one thing but doing it can feel a little awkward. To say the least. You don't necessarily need to be like those basketball players saying you can do this to yourself all day. But you can harness the power of this when you need it. And here are some steps to get you started.

Number one, find your own space. Whether it's in your bedroom, on a park bench that you just love, in a bathroom stall. Just find a space where you feel secure, to break the ice with yourself. And like most new things, it's going to feel a little awkward to pump yourself up and say these affirmations. But with practice and the comfortability of a safe space, soon you'll be doing it in no time.

Number two, decide what to say and how to say it. When you're working through certain themes like confidence or loneliness in your life. Framing your self talks with kindness will go a long way. I need to tell myself this one obviously because I go through the worrywarts self talk. The best way to verbalize self love is to ask yourself questions. So pause for a moment to take stock of how you're feeling and how you want to move forward with your day. If you're working through a particularly rough patch what you would say. What would you say to comfort and guide a friend who is going through the same thing? Take that and say it out loud to yourself. Try addressing yourself in second or third person saying something as simple as you are worth it. But insert your name Kristi is worth it. Jane is worth it. Trisha, you are worth it. Insert your name and that mantra can do wonders. Because using your name to talk to yourself, helps you see things from a distance. And that perspective helps reframe your negative self talk. And it provides objectivity and self compassion. If you wouldn't talk to your friend that way, in the third person. Then why would you talk to yourself that way in the first person? So make sure also that you are using freeing self talk, don't use limiting self talk. Make sure that this is helpful to where you want to be. Instead of labeling yourself with negative terms, reframe the way you think about who you are. So if you're somebody who's in IDOL courses Academy, you want to be an instructional designer. So say it, Kristi is an instructional designer. Beth, you are an instructional designer. Tom, you are an instructional designer. Pamela, you are an instructional designer. Make it work for you.

And number three, make it a habit. Like anything else. Doing it once is a great first step, but consistency is key and can lead to some big benefits. Start slow, but build yourself up a practice of saying what you need to hear. And you will manifest your dreams sooner than you realize. Next time you have a moment whether it's in the car on your way to work, on your way to taking your kids somewhere, or in the middle of finally folding that laundry, walk through these steps and talk your way into a daily practice of talking to yourself. Now, at IDOL courses Academy we help you build your professional portfolio, revise your resume, prepare your interviews and give you valuable feedback on what you design. 

Sign up for IDOL courses Academy using my code CLASSROOM100 and get $100 off enrollment today. It's time to take control and make the career change that will change your life. It changed mine. See you next time.

Send your stories or your questions to [email protected] or share them with me on Instagram  @leavingtheclassroom.