Every day we are bombarded with information:  some good, some bad, some helpful, and some we should just forget.  We’re constantly fielding information from the outside and deciphering whether we should let it inform our lives or not.

But how often do we stop to listen to our internal dialogue each day?

We could learn a lot if we stop and listen to what we say to ourselves, inside our own heads. But to do so, we often have to silence the external noise.   Taking a moment between work and home, turning off the phone or computer for a moment, stopping to take a few deep breaths-there are many methods that can help us get to a space where we can hear our own thoughts.

We might be surprised what we find in there.

Have you been struggling with confidence at work?  What’s the story you’re telling yourself?  Is it encouraging and edifying or is it demeaning?

Have you been feeling inadequate as a wife, mom, sister, or friend?  What’s the story you’re telling yourself?  Is it one where you show yourself grace and forgiveness, believing the best about yourself while believing the best about others?  Or is it a story of rebuking yourself for every mistake?

Have you felt like you’re losing the battle to love your body and treat it well?  What’s the story you’re telling yourself?  Are the thoughts you think about yourself and your body words you would be proud to say out loud?  Are they words you would say to your best friend?  Words you would say to your daughter?

It can be a bit scary to hear what we’re actually thinking, can’t it? But, it can also be informative…and life-changing.

Finding out our internal dialogue is unhelpful, and possibly self-sabotaging our efforts, is the initial step to making changes.

When we’re feeling discouraged, we can stop in the moment to listen to our thoughts.  Is the story we’re telling ourselves actually true?  Are we telling ourselves a story we don’t want to be telling? If so, we can begin to rewrite the story.  We can change the dialogue midstream.

Taking in good information from the outside can help us change the dialogue.  Positive affirmations, encouragement from loved ones, uplifting books and podcasts, all play a role in helping us flip the script in our minds.

Recognizing that our thought patterns may be unhelpful to us is a crucial step in creating beneficial change.

Let’s tell ourselves the stories we want to tell.  Then, let’s live those stories well.

Written by Brittni Paris, SFC Blogger

Photo Credits:

Photo by Brenda Godinez on Unsplash

Photo by Kunj Parekh on Unsplash

Photo by Bảo-Quân Nguyễn on Unsplash