The Benefits Of Self Talk

• If you don’t stand up to fear, it will paralyse you.
• Inappropriate fear can come from negative subconscious beliefs.
• Self talk can revel the type of negative beliefs you have.

Since starting this website, I have received many emails from people who ask me for advice on various issues. One of the most common things I get asked about, is how to overcome fear.

What I have noticed is that for a lot of these people, they are experiencing something I call “inappropriate fear”. A term which describes fearing something when actually there is nothing to fear.

People who experience such inappropriate fear tend to worry a lot, and as a result of this worry, feel afraid all the time or get afraid very easily.

For some people, this fear can be so great that they choose not to mix with other people. Instead they stay at home by themselves, where they feel “safe”. 

This later example shows just how powerful the emotion of fear can be, and the paralysing effects it can have on someone’s life.

Fear In The Mind

Since inappropriate fear is fear in response to either no or insignificant danger, the most logical explanation for the cause of this type of fear is the individuals internal mental programming.

For example, if a person has had some traumatic event or negative experience happen to them in the past (which also generated a powerful negative emotion), this event will be stored in their subconscious as a negative emotional memory.

This experience, and its associated emotional memory, will be incorporated into that person’s beliefs system which will then influence their thoughts, feelings and actions.

So even though there may not be any danger for them in the present, their emotional memories of the past cause them to think that something similar might happen to them again. As a result they begin to worry, and as soon as they worry, they start to feel fear.

Fortunately however, there are steps you can take to reprogram the thoughts you have which come from your subconscious beliefs.

Reprogramming Your Mind

In a previous article I discussed how self talk was essentially a form of subconscious communication, which reveals to you the type of beliefs you have acquired throughout your life.

These beliefs are communicated to you by the thoughts you have in your head, and how you talk to yourself.

For example, saying to yourself “I’m not good enough to do that” is a reflection of a negative limiting subconscious belief, where you doubt your own ability to successfully do something.

These beliefs are limiting because the actions of a person with such thoughts are likely to be limited by them. So if you think you can’t do it, you physically won’t do it.

The Benefits Of Monitoring Self Talk

Since self talk reveals to you the type of mental programming you received throughout your life, and the beliefs you have as a result of them, monitoring and correcting your self talk can be extremely beneficial for two reasons.

1) It prevents the self reinforcing nature of negative subconscious beliefs.

2) It assists in the removal of negative subconscious beliefs, thereby allowing you to replace them with positive beliefs.

Becoming Aware Of Self Talk

I remember when I first learnt about self talk, and realised how many negative limiting beliefs I had. I couldn’t believe I was talking to myself in the way I did, as it seemed like such a foolish thing to do.

As my awareness of self talk increased, I began to notice it in the people around me. Some of whom were my age, and some who were much older than me.

It was then that I realised how the beliefs we acquire during our childhood, can continue to affect us our entire lives. The funny thing was that we were entirely to blame for it, because of the way we talked to ourselves!

So if you find yourself fearing things all the time, the first thing you need to do is examine your thoughts.

Are you constantly doubting yourself? Or worrying about things that might happen, but never do? If so then you have probably acquired some negative beliefs at some point in your life. What are these beliefs? Listen to your thoughts and you will find out!

Unless these old negative beliefs are removed from your subconscious belief system, any attempts to positively re-programme your mind (such as through affirmations) will automatically be rejected by your subconscious.