Learn how to talk to yourself the right way

If you see a sign saying, ‘Please do not walk on the grass‘, the first thing you will picture in your mind is walking on the grass, you will then process the negative part of the sentence ‘do not‘. This is because the instruction is thought about after the subject, (the subject is something we can see or feel).  A more effective sign would be ‘Please walk on the pavement’, as your mind would first picture the pavement.

Now let us relate this process to the topic of anxiety. If you say to yourself ‘I will not be anxious today‘ the first thing you will picture in your mind is being anxious, which could trigger off anxiety symptoms immediately. It would be more appropriate to use the phrase ‘I will be relaxed today’ as your mind would focus on the word relax.  

It’s all about how your mind has to visualise or think about something before it can move on to the next step. 

This is the essence of brain language, avoid using a negative.

Like most things in life, you can look at the way you think in two ways;

‘I am relaxed’ or ‘I am not anxious’

‘I am eating a healthy meal’ or ‘I am not heating unhealthily’

‘I am active’ or ‘I am not lazy’ 

All of the above examples have exactly the same meaning but each have a positive notion and a negative notion. 

The positive phrasing will always work better with your brain, give you a healthier outlook on life and help control your anxiety.