You Are a Joke!

Uh, oh! That title sounds like some unhealthy self-talk. Or maybe you’re not a joke; you might be a slug, a loser, an idiot, a moron, a buffoon, an amateur, a dull knife, a regular Sherlock friggin’ Holmes, not to mention a few handfuls of expletives that you might spew in disgust. In reality, if someone else called you by a few of these names, you might get defensive and confrontational; probably with just cause.

It’s negative self-talk and it causes an astonishing amount of unseen damage. Some would say, “Wow, he’s really tough on himself.” Or worse yet, “When she gets down, there’s no recovery for her.” So why would you talk down to yourself? Why? Because nobody has ever told you why you shouldn’t. Let’s take care of that right now!

In the October 15th FIX on Friday, we used a quote by Andrew Carnegie that started with an extremely important statement. “You are what you think.” Another quote that I’d like to pull in here is from Henry Ford, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” These two men couldn’t be more different from one another as far as I can tell. Carnegie was a model philanthropist who gave generously and was a much different person than Ford, but their successes were unmistakable. Their opinions on this matter were very similar. Here are a few points that summarize the attitudes that these men had:

  • You are what you think, so think positive
  • No matter how high the mountain, your belief in whether you can climb it or not is the most important factor influencing your success
  • Offer yourself and those around you positive and encouraging feedback

Do this for yourself and others and you can make a difference in your life and the lives of other people with who you come into contact on a regular basis. That’s right, in effect, YOU can change the world! Next time you, or someone close to you, wants to chastise themselves, try something like these as alternatives:

  1. C’mon, you’ve got this!
  2. Make this one count!
  3. This is why you practice!
  4. Shot of the day right here!
  5. Cinderella story!
  6. Mic drop comin’ up!
  7. You-da-man!

You’ve got the picture so develop your own if you’d like. Change your negative self-talk to positive and you’ll see the difference immediately. Now go get ‘em, Champ!!