I hope y’all get something good out of this one because I sure did! I was having a casual conversation with a very close friend a few weeks ago, and she mentioned something that seems very normal to say. She said, “Ugh, I gotta get rid of this fat stomach!” Mind you, my friend and I talk this way all the time, but for some reason, it hit the ear wrong this time. I looked at her like she was crazy because to me, she’s not fat. But, I realized that I do the same thing with other aspects of myself I don’t like.
“I’m too sensitive and weak.”
“My face is so chubby.”
“I have a fat tummy.”
How can I look at my friend like she’s crazy when I say the same things and more about myself? I can’t expect other people to change the way they talk about themselves if I don’t do the same, so I’ve made a vow to change it!
How can we change the way we talk about ourselves?
We all have things about ourselves that we don’t like, and it’s unrealistic to think otherwise. However, we don’t have to be so negative about the things we don’t like either. When you say, “Oh my goodness, my stomach is so fat!” it can potentially leave you feeling less confident and lead to a decline in your mental health. We certainly don’t want that!
Instead, we can say, “I want to work on my stomach.” Doesn’t that sound so much better? This way, we’re turning our insecurities into actionable goals. When you declare your wants and desires out loud, it can potentially trigger your mind to start thinking of ways to achieve those goals.
Changing the way we speak about our insecurities will help us learn to not be so hard on ourselves and not use such harsh language. Once we make this a habit, our inner voice that can sometimes be so cruel with mean insults and harsh language will begin to shift toward kindness. It’s not going to be a smooth transition or an easy change to make — trust me, some of us have been using language like this for as long as we can remember. However, I strongly believe it’s worth giving a try. Plus, you never know who is listening to the way you negatively speak about yourself and is adopting similar language when they’re talking about themselves — ever thought about that one? I sure didn’t.
Final Thoughts
The way we speak about ourselves holds weight, arguably more weight than what others may say about us. So, let’s watch the language that we use, both internally and externally, because it all impacts our self-confidence in some way. In a world where social media has the potential to shatter our confidence with just one mean comment on Twitter or only two likes on an Instagram picture that you thought was pretty, let’s do whatever we can to preserve and protect our self-confidence. Let’s make a pact to be more mindful of our self-talk from here on out because we should want to change for the better rather than unintentionally stunt our own growth.
“Your self-talk has a dramatic influence on your level of success in every aspect of your life. Be mindful of what you say to yourself.” – Unknown
I didn’t realize at first but I do this too. I never knew it could have implications. I’ll try to be more positive when talking about myself!