One simple technique to control the negative voice in your head.You know that little negative voice in your head? Yes, the inner voice that beats you up every time you made a mistake, missed a deadline or messed something up? That voice that jumps to labels and generalizations along the lines of “I am stupid”, “I am useless”, “I am stuck” has developed early on, during your childhood, as a coping mechanism to feeling not worthy or not good enough.
As a confident action taker, you slowly learn how to calm down this voice, how to nurture it and gently bring it to silence.
Action: Start with a very simple and easy to use technique: every time you are tempted to label yourself negatively, replace “I am” with “I feel”.
This is a healthy dissociation of your identity from your feelings - the mind knows feelings and emotions are temporary and do not last long. When you transfer the label from your identity (“I am”) to your feelings (“I feel”), the mind processes the situation from an objective perspective, understanding that because feelings are temporary, so are the labels.
To further highlight that labels are temporary, you can add to your sentence words that suggest their limited validity: “for now”, “at present”, “for the moment”.
There are so many benefits of replacing “I am” with “I feel” and adding words that suggest a temporary state of facts:
A healthy dissociation of your identity from your feelings. You are not your feelings.
Ability express your feelings easily
Understanding that feelings are temporary, they change over time
Interrupt negative self-talk
Avoid looping negative thoughts related to permanent “I am” labels
Achieve better emotional control by shifting to feelings and their passing nature
Enjoy increased confidence and stress resistance
Start applying this simple technique immediately and share it with your friends!
