Positive Self Talk
In Aviation, the word attitude is a term that refers to the angle at which the plane meets the wind, if the wings are level with the horizon, and whether the aircraft is climbing or descending. The pilot who fails to take responsibility for the attitude of his or her aircraft is in serious trouble. And likewise, if you fail to control your thoughts and take responsibility for your attitude, you take a similar risk in your life and business.
While we are not always able to control our circumstances, we can and must control how we respond to life’s difficulties, setbacks, and challenges. We have a choice about how our day is going to be. During the 2008 US Open Tiger Woods was in major pain on several of his shots because of a recent knee surgery. But it was how Tiger chose to respond to his challenge that allowed him to defy odds and make it to a final round playoff with Rocco Mediate. It was his “Self Talk” that allowed him to believe all day, he had a chance anyway to compete for the championship. Not only did his knee hurt him, he struggled the first 4 holes, and where many competitors would have packed it in, Tiger kept telling himself “I can play through this pain and if I play even par today I can win this tournament”.
How often do you talk to yourself and what do you say? I have had this conversation with a lot of people lately. I really want to hammer it home to you though. I did some research on the psychology of this concept and found that the average person maintains an ongoing mental dialog, or self talk, of between 150 to 300 words per minute. Unfortunately, not all of these thoughts are positive. In fact, it has been estimated that of the thousands of thoughts we have each day, approximately 40% are extremely negative and another 30% are somewhat negative and self-critical in nature. Most of us are generally unaware of this negative background chatter, let alone its sabotaging effect on our emotional state, performance and well being. I know most of you have been told in the past by your manager or at a seminar that you have to really work on the self talk and do everything you can to move it towards the positive nature, but now I want to challenge you to really work on it. Don’t just let the thought pass!
I want to challenge you to “Turn it Up A Notch” with your Positive Self Talk because it is the very important first spark that will eventually bring you great success and satisfaction.
Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Choose your words, for they become actions. Understand your actions, for they become habits and the actual results you will have. Study your habits and results, for they will become your character. And lastly develop your character, for it becomes your destiny.
Make it a great week!
Gary Michels
Southwestern Consulting
Originally posted at http://garymichels.wordpress.com/2012/05/18/fear-of-change/
Filed under: Sales Coaching | Leave a Comment »
