Are you talking to yourself? Don’t worry, it’s a judgment-free zone. I probably talk to myself more than other people – especially considering the self-talk.
I once read that people who talk to each other are probably smarter. Whether it’s factual or not, I don’t know, but I know it’s important for you to be smart on the way you talk to yourself.
I’m a pretty self-deprecating person, so when I talk about myself, it’s usually kind of an insult. About a year ago I realized how often I was doing this and made a conscious effort to be a little nicer. During this time, my mood was a bit more positive.
This experiment fits well with the research efforts of psychologist Ethan Kross, who has examined the differences in life success based on how people talk to each other. “Speak to yourself with the pronoun I, for example, and you’re likely to get upset and perform poorly under stressful circumstances,” Kross said. “Address yourself by name and your chances of accomplishing a host of tasks, from speaking out to self-defense, suddenly skyrocket. »
It can be simplified as follows: Speak to yourself as you would (or perhaps should) speak to someone else and respond as you would like them to respond. Act kindly and receive kindness in return – as a result, things are more consistent, copacetic and successful.
After working with participants in his study, Kross found a number of performance benefits to this method of self-talk, including: better performance, greater well-being, and greater wisdom.
To demonstrate better performance, the judges were led to listen to five-minute speeches prepared by the contestants on why they should be hired for their dream job. Half of the participants used “I” statements, while the other half referred to themselves by their own name. The judges found that the second half performed better, and they suffered less depression and felt less shame.
Regarding higher well-being, Jason Moser, a neuroscientist and clinical psychologist, measured electrical activity in the brain during participants’ use of different types of self-talk. During stressful situations, those who used their name instead of personal pronouns had a significant decrease in their level of anxiety, which was positively correlated with a major decrease in energy consumption by the frontal lobe (talk about a win-win!)
With greater wisdom, research has found that people who use their nouns instead of pronouns are able to think things through in a wiser, more rational and balanced way. “The psychologically distant perspective allowed people to transcend their egocentric views and consider the bigger picture,” Kross said of this part of the research.
Well, Taylor is now ready to wrap up this article, and she hopes you’ll give self-talk a try, because The American Genius wants only the best for its readers! Also, encourage people around you and your team members to give this name idea a try – give it a spin after a week of trying it and share the results.
