Talking To Yourself to Enhance Performance

Everyone talks to themselves. Some do it loudly, others do it in the mind. Some consciously and some unconsciously. What we tell ourselves shapes our whole life. Nothing is more important than making sure we tell ourselves the right thing.

This is an important aspect of performance psychology as well. When a student is studying for an exam, they might tell themselves that their struggle makes them a loser.  An Athlete may be going through a bad patch. and tell themselves they don't have it anymore. A person sitting bored in an office may mistake his boredom as anxiety as there is nothing to do. 

So what to do? 

When we are not taking action, we are telling ourselves something wrong. Adjusting our self-talk, therefore, helps us not only feel better but take actual action. The student can look at their struggle as a normal aspect of preparation, the athlete can tell themselves that success is right around the corner, while the office worker may build a to-do list in the same amount of time. 

Tell yourself whatever helps you take action and performance will follow.

Umair Usman is a Rapid Transformational Therapist, a businessperson, and a writer. You can know more about him here