Talk To Yourself

Where do you get your certainty from? Do you remember what it's like to feel absolute certainty - about you, your role, your job, your life? Does that certainty feel good?

If the answer to those questions is 'no', then it's time you started talking to yourself - in a very deliberate way. Not in a crazy person kind of way - muttering away to yourself as you shuffle down the street - you don't want to frighten people!

But just as you are deliberate in what you wear, what you eat (ok - most of the time deliberate!), be deliberate in how you talk to yourself. This is how you create certainty in your beliefs, and thus in your results.

Certainty comes out of repeated thoughts - beliefs - that come to resonate in every cell of your body. Like how you know the sun will rise very day, water flows downhill, bulbs bloom in spring, money is elusive, Roger Federer is the greatest tennis player ever...

Hang on a minute - 'money is elusive' is the same as 'water flows downhill'? Yes - if you believe it's true.

And here's the crux of the matter - certainty does NOT come from evidence in the external world - it comes from our expectations. Our expectations seek out evidence. And our expectations are crafted from repeated thoughts.

So just like you repeatedly think and expect the sun to rise, so it does. The same for money - if you think it is elusive and believe that thought - so it is so - our brains seek the evidence, and the evidence always turns up.

If you changed your thoughts, your focus - you would get different evidence. This starts by talking to yourself - with deliberate intent.

So if you expect each day at work to be a struggle, so it is. Try changing the way you talk to yourself:"Today is a new day with the possibility of change and discovery. Today I look for things are going right at work. Today I appreciate that I have a job and that it helps me to meet my obligations. Today I start by having an intention to feel good throughout the day. Today I focus on how I feel, rather than what I am producing or achieving. Today I am just giving myself a break from performing."

Start being your own cheersquad, coach, and mentor. If it helps, imagine having a conversation with someone you admire and respect, and ask them for advice.

Mutter on, friends!

To a life you love to live.