Kwik Team

We’ve talked a lot about the importance of changing your self-talk. You can read more about how to stop ANTs, here, and using the ABCs to change your thoughts, here. But what about what’s happening inside your brain when you have these thoughts? Specifically, how does changing your self-talk influence your neurology? We looked at five different ways you can change your brain through the power of self-talk. Let’s dive in.

Rewire Your Brain with Positive Affirmations

Research shows that positive affirmations can create lasting physical changes in the brain. In a study published in the Journal of Cognitive Enhancement, researchers found that repeated positive affirmations led to increased activity in key brain regions associated with self-processing and reward. Even more important, as the reward system strengthens individuals saw a direct decrease in sedentary behavior.

Essentially, this means that the more you engage in self-talk, you directly influence the wiring of the reward system. Whenever you activate the reward system, you stimulate the release of dopamine. Dopamine is the feel-good neurotransmitter and the more you produce, the more you reinforce the neural pathways associated with positive thoughts. This boosts your mood, which increases your energy, leading to a lifestyle that improves your overall cognitive function.

Boost Confidence with Powerful Language

You’ve heard me say, if your brain is a computer, your self-talk is the program you run. That’s because your brain is highly sensitive to the language you use. But you can use this to your advantage. By incorporating powerful and confident language into your self-talk, you can actually influence and change the way your brain perceives challenges.

A study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology showed that individuals who used strong, positive language in their self-talk were more likely to approach tasks with confidence and resilience. This is largely due to how language impacts the amygdala, the area of the brain that plays a crucial role in processing emotions. By using assertive and empowering language, you calm the negative emotional responses in the brain, leading to courage and self-assurance in times of stress.

Enhance Learning through Visualization

One way you can reinforce positive self-talk is through visualization. Multiple studies in the field of neuroscience show how mental imagery activates the same neural pathways as actual experiences. When you engage in positive self-talk by using images, you stimulate the areas of the brain that create joy, happiness, and delight.

You can use this to your advantage by visualizing success, achieving your goals, or feeling fulfilled and satisfied. When you pair the images with positive self-talk, you’re priming your brain for optimal performance. What you imagine, your brain recreates. You start seeing success, happiness, and confidence wherever you look, reinforcing your self-talk with evidence in the real world. It’s a potent strategy to help boost your performance in every area of life.

Manage Stress with Calming Words

Chronic stress wreaks havoc on the brain. It affects memory, focus, and overall cognitive function, along with your physical health and mental well-being. And one way you can combat stress is through your self-talk. A recent study set out to find how self-talk influences the levels of stress by measuring the stress hormone cortisol. They found that positive self-talk not only decreases stress and anxiety levels, but negative self-talk spikes them.

You can see the power of this in another study. When researchers had participants who experience test anxiety simply tell themselves that they were excited before taking a test scored 8% higher and felt more confident of their results. The reason? Calming and positive self-talk activates the prefrontal cortex, which dampens the emotional response of the amygdala stress signals. Your body can experience the same physiological feelings of being nervous, but your brain functions entirely different—just based on your self-talk.

Foster Resilience with Growth Mindset Language

One of the benefits of improving your self-talk is developing a growth mindset. Carol Dweck defines a growth mindset as one where you believe that you can develop your abilities and skills through dedication and hard work. Those are the exact beliefs you begin to build when you focus on positive self-talk. And as one study on college student mental health shows, individuals who have a growth mindset exhibit increased resilience and motivation.

A growth mindset also has numerous brain benefits. Studies show that individuals with a growth mindset are more open to corrective feedback, have heightened awareness of potential errors, and showed increased cognitive control. These traits make you more likely to recover from mistakes faster while avoid making as many errors as others. And because you’re more open to feedback, you’re likely to grow at a faster pace than individuals with a scarcity mindset. Finally, because success naturally activates the reward system, you develop a positive relationship with learning and growth that lasts a lifetime.

Conclusion

It’s easy to see that your self-talk is more than the program running your brain. It can be your superpower that can shape the structure of your brain and how you think. By incorporating positive affirmations, powerful language, visualization, calming words, and a growth mindset into your inner self-talk, you rewire your brain for success, happiness, and a limitless mind.

To learn more about how to master your inner critic, watch this video:

One of the ten keys to good brain health is killing ANTS—Automatic Negative Thoughts. We’ve talked before about some tactics you can use to recognize and change your thoughts in a positive light. These principles are grounded in the work of Albert Ellis, a pivotal figure in the development of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. And to keep it simple, the framework he designed is as easy as ABC.

What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a therapeutic framework grounded in the connection between your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Unlike traditional therapeutic approaches, CBT focuses on the present. It explores how your thought patterns influence your emotional responses and actions. At its core, CBT operates on the belief that changing your thoughts can transform your emotional well-being through changed behavior.

As we mentioned, one of the early pioneers of this therapy was Albert Ellis. He became a trailblazer in this form of treatment by challenging the popular and conventional psychoanalytic methods of the time. His groundbreaking theories introduced a structured way of understanding the interplay between external events, your beliefs, and the resulting emotional and behavioral consequences.

The ABC Model

The ABC model stands for Activating events, Beliefs, and Consequences. Ellis argued it’s not the events themselves shaping your emotional responses but rather the beliefs you hold about those events. By identifying and challenging these beliefs, you can interrupt negative thinking patterns and rewire your brain for positive emotional outcomes.

In essence, Ellis’s theories highlight the dynamic nature of your cognitive processes and emphasize the power you hold in shaping your own psychological responses. He encouraged a proactive and rational approach to mental well-being by promoting the idea that you are capable of changing your thought patterns. In doing so, you will enjoy healthier and happier emotional experiences and behaviors.

A: Activating Events

The first element is learning to recognize the activating event. You can’t change a negative thought until you realize you’re having them. According to research, as much as 95% of your brain activity is unconscious. That means you may be having thoughts that lead to emotional reactions that you’re not aware of. By taking the time to learn how to recognize those thoughts, you’re taking the first step in removing the power they have over you.

This step might seem straightforward, but it does require some time and practice. As mentioned, it’s difficult to recognize a thought you’re not consciously aware you’re having. A good place to start is to identify areas of your life where you typically are left with negative emotions. Keep a notebook with you and when you start to feel angry, sad, or uncertain, take a moment to think about what is happening in the situation and what your response is. If this feels overwhelming, there are many trained clinicians and therapists who can help guide you through this process.

B — Beliefs

Once you’ve identified what situations are triggering your negative thoughts, you can dig a little deeper into where those thoughts are coming from. These are your internal beliefs, or the LIEs you tell yourself. Maybe you feel like if you make a mistake that means you’re not good enough or don’t deserve to be happy. It isn’t the mistake that triggers that feeling but the belief you hold about the mistake. Learning how to understand and challenge these beliefs is a crucial element in transforming your cognitive landscape.

There are two steps to overcoming your beliefs. The first is to create a positive affirmation to replace the negative belief. If your LIE is “I’m not good enough”, you could replace it with, “I work very hard”, or “Mistakes don’t determine my worth”. Every time you recognize the LIE, you sit with the positive affirmation repeating it either out loud, in writing, or silently to yourself. This helps train your brain to begin embracing the new thought.

This takes time, and in the beginning, it might feel strange or awkward. You might even find resistance in even saying the thought. But that’s why this step is so important. The more you repeat the new affirmation, the easier it becomes to accept it as truth. Remember, you weren’t born with these negative beliefs, they were learned. Which means you can teach yourself these new replacements.

The second step is to gradually begin exploring yourself to more challenging situations. If you’re learning to overcome mistakes, you’re going to want to get out of your comfort zone and engage in activities where you’re going to make mistakes. Each time you encounter a mistake, you take the time to recognize the mistake and replace your negative thoughts with your new positive affirmation. Over time, you’ll find that you’re able to make more mistakes and your confidence in your abilities will grow as you face new challenges.

C — Consequences

The third and final step is understanding the consequences. This is tackling the emotional and behavioral outcomes of your beliefs. Essentially, this is drilling down into the why of your negative beliefs. It sounds a little daunting, but this is less about needing to confront the past and more about looking into your future.

When you hold only limiting or negative beliefs, it often leads to undesirable consequences. This might manifest as stress, anxiety, or self-sabotaging behaviors. You might put yourself out there less at work or in your personal life, or find that you avoid certain situations altogether. As long as you hold onto these beliefs and allow these thoughts to take hold, these consequences will continue to emerge.

You can tackle this element in the same way you’re tackling your LIEs. Recognize the current consequences and project a new, positive consequence. For example, if you’re avoiding making a mistake, this may have kept you from learning to play a musical instrument. A new consequence would be enjoying playing music on your own. Consequences are neither good or bad, and you are in control of both.

Conclusion

At its core, the ABCs of changing your thoughts is simply an easy-to-remember roadmap. When you recognize your thoughts, reframe your beliefs, and understand the potential consequences, you’re taking control of your emotional outcomes. You will no longer avoid situations or feel powerless to your reactions. In turn, you’ll develop a more positive and resilient mindset that will lead you to a truly limitless life.

To learn more about how to transform negative thoughts, check out this video: