Have you ever stopped and reflected on the language you use when talking to yourself?
Do you notice that you can be quite negative with the language you use towards yourself?
This can apply if you’re a coach, a player or even a person?! 🗣
Did you also realise that you don’t have to talk to yourself in a negative way?
I know this might sound really obvious, but this was a big ‘AHA’ moment for me!
It never occurred to me that I could talk to myself kindly.
I never questioned the thoughts that I had and took them as truth! We should be our number one fan, but instead can be our biggest critic 🤦🏽♀️
When I played the language and self-talk, I used was awful.
🤦🏽♀️ If I threw the ball away, of course I did a dumb pass.
🤦🏽♀️ If I missed a shot, I’d call myself and idiot.
🤦🏽♀️ If a play didn’t go to plan it was my fault
🙋🏽♀️ As coaches you may notice the language that players use when talking about themselves or their performance. They can easily find what went wrong, but struggle to come up with what went well? Nothing seems good enough?
If you notice yourself or others with negative self-talk this is when you can start to challenge them. They may not even realise they’re doing it 🤷♀️
Have them consider:
✨ is the thought accurate? ✨ are you only allowing for perfection? ✨ am I blowing things out of proportion? ✨ am I only looking for problems?
Once reflected on the above, write down two things that went well (can be small) and one thing you’d like to work on.
By doing this we are bringing the positives to our attention and not just focusing on the negative.
The more you practice the quicker you will notice when you’re having negative self-talk and replace that thought with something positive or at least neutral.
