What did you say to me?
I love my businesses, but in one of the customer environments that we support, the negative chatter at work is overwhelming. I visit the customer weekly and it always seems like someone is complaining or saying how horrible it is to work there. The environment is toxic, when in reality it shouldn’t be. There is great opportunity in that customer space for good work, but the negative talk seems to hover like a nasty smog over the entire office.
Many of us could be described as pretty positive people. But, no matter how “glass half full” we are with our mindset, we are ALL guilty of participating in negative talk and less-than-positive self-talk. Here are some overt things that people say about themselves every day, for example:
- “I’m too old.” OR “I’m too young.”
- “I can’t do that.”
- “It’s too hard.”
- “I’m not that smart.”
- “No way I could do that.”
So, I have a challenge for all of us. OUR weekly THREE ACTIONS are going to center around remedying negative talk and self-talk:
**Action:
- Listen for it. Quite often we let our minds run on autopilot. For this exercise, pay attention for an entire day and listen for negative talk or self-talk.
- Call it like you heard it. We should label what we heard or said as negative! By labeling it as negative we set ourselves up to challenge the reality.
- Challenge the negativity: “I just had that thought…” or “I just heard something negative…”For example if we catch ourselves saying, “I am not worth it,” then pause and say (or think), “I just had the thought, ‘I am not worth it.’” Is that true? No it’s not. Using this formula securely labels the thought or words as just a fleeting thought or phrase. Without doing this we run a higher risk of taking it personally and allowing it to ruin our day.**
