Talking To Yourself Is A Sign of Sanity!

Lisa Franchi December 10, 2012

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Perhaps you have watched movies involving clinically insane people talking to themselves. That’s not so true in real life. In fact, talking to yourself is a sign of sanity and scientists can attest to it!

We, humans, are by nature, social beings. As they say, no man is an island. We can’t let a day pass without finding someone to talk to. Often, we find ourselves chatting with people from various parts of the world, conversing with strangers in the bus or in the train station, or looking for a phone or text pal. But right in the privacy of our mind, we are actually talking to ourselves. Maybe you’ve experienced asking yourself several times if you can do a certain task or not or consulting yourself if a business is going to thrive or not. You may not know it but you have been talking to yourself all this time!

But have you ever talked to yourself out loud? Why not try it? Did you know it can enhance your performance? Self-talking has many health benefits! Here are some of them:

·    It boosts your self-esteem. Why wait for others to compliment your good work when you can do it by yourself? Yes, give yourself a tap on your shoulder then tell yourself “congratulations!” and experience a boost in your self-esteem. You deserve it!

·    It helps you decide. Struggling with a decision? Consult yourself! It’s very hard to decide when you’re confronted with a lot of choices. But when you brain-storm and converse with yourself, you streamline and narrow down your choices and pick the smartest one. Having a dialogue with yourself helps you determine your wants, needs, and other expectations.

·   It makes you hit your goals accurately. Christmas is coming and you might be overwhelmed by a plethora of tasks, wish-lists, and other stuff to accomplish. While it helps to make a to-do list, it becomes more effective when you say it out loud. Comparative to memorising, you tend to focus your attention better when you voice out your plans.

·     It keeps you motivated. In hypnotherapy, the practitioner provides positive suggestions to help the client build a stronger willpower. If you think you can’t do a difficult task, say speaking in front of people, whisper to yourself “Hey I can do it, I know I can!” Too tired to finish a marathon race or a hard-core workout routine? Tell yourself “Almost there”. Cheering yourself up can bolster your confidence and make you do things you never thought you could!

 

WARNING: Don’t talk to yourself when you have nothing good to say! Don’t tell yourself “you should have done this,”, “you’re stupid”, “you are always a failure”, etc. This kind of self-talk is worse than no talk at all. Treat yourself as your best friend. And best friends don’t say silly things to each other, do they?

 

Dear Readers,

What other self-motivating methods could you suggest? Do you find it helpful to self-motivate?

Share your comments below!