Why does it seem easier to be self-critical rather than self-praising? Are you expecting too much from yourself? Wait, is that a bad thing? No. You should expect the best of yourself. You’re amazing. You’re unique. You’re living. You’re here.
It’s natural to have backslides here and there. It’s how you recover that means the most. Can you get up and brush it off? Laugh at yourself? Learn from the past? If you thought, “yes” to any of those, congratulations! You’re already in the right frame of mind.
Your brain is powerful and complex, and that means you are, too. The WSJ listed some steps to turn off the self-doubt in your head. To begin with, be aware. “You need to know your thoughts to change them. Learn to notice when you are ruminating. Remind yourself that this is a waste of time.”
Tune into the thought or situation that soured your mood. Can you change it? If so, how? Is it as simple as shrugging it off? If you can’t change it, let it go. If it’s unchangeable, then any time spent trying to change it becomes wasteful. Nobody likes to waste their time or energy.
If shaking it off isn’t your strong suit, then here’s three words for you: practice, practice, practice:
“You can, however, turn your new thoughts into a habit in a relatively short time. A November 2014 study in the journal “Behaviour Research and Therapy” showed that people who practiced Cognitive Reappraisals (creating stronger neural networks devoted to positive thoughts, or a happier brain) as part of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy were able to significantly reduce their negative emotions in 16 weeks.”
Few things come easily in life, and you might have to work hard at it. But then you’ll get the reward and it’ll feel amazing, like you’re witnessing a shooting star on a clear summer night. You’ll feel lucky and thankful. But mostly you’ll feel invincible… ready to conquer the world… and you just might!