[Libby Huffman]

Many of us find ourselves using words like "idiot" and "stupid" to describe some of the things we've done. But have you ever thought about how it affects your personal and professional life? Learn the impact of negativity and how to turn it around.

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[galfriday]

Libby, what a fantastic article. I'm someone who used to be a very negative self-talker. I still have my moments, but once I do it, I try to correct myself. I LOVE the list of questions you gave us to ask ourselves the next time we feel ourselves getting negative. Someone I admire very much once said to me that instead of saying, "Argh! I'm such an idiot!"; he simply says to himself "let's try that again Sweetheart." I find that funny, and sweet. So whenever I do something pretty silly, like a grammatical error in an email, I simply say "Let's not do that again Sweetheart!."

[mzimmerm]

I too am a recovering negative self-talker. At first, I had a hard time stifling the negative parts of my inner monologue so I tried being positive on the outside. I'm now known for my cheery optimism and having that reputation makes me happy, which in turn helps reduce the negative self-talk.

[Linda Clark]

These are all wonderful ways to step outside our own negative feelings and look at them from a different angle. One thing I try and to is use the word "cancel" when I seem to be overwhelmed with negativity from others. It is amazing how much power is in this simple six letter word. Just cancel the thought.

[jaynz]

Originally Posted by Libby Huffman

Many of us find ourselves using words like "idiot" and "stupid" to describe some of the things we've done. But have you ever thought about how it affects your personal and professional life? Learn the impact of negativity and how to turn it around.
View The Full Article

Im new to OA with this being the first Newsletter that I have received.
The title of this article caught my eye straight away as I also tend to slide into a bit of negative talk for more often than I would like. The negative talk has been an issue of mine for many years but in the more recent years I have been reading, learning and working hard on turning this around.
In a very simplified way I have learnt that you do create your own reality and the more energy you put into something the bigger and stronger the result, be it positive or negative-pretty simple concept really. The hard part comes with over riding the negitaive thoughts and patterns with positive ones. Sounds easy but when you are in the midst of a melt down/crisis/hiccup it takes a lot of energy to move from a negative thought to a positive one, but it can be done.
Have some basic tools ready to use, like a photo of someone or something you love or something that is cute and fluffy that makes you smile, a positive affirmation (I have different ones I really like written on wallet size card so I can carry them with me)or a list of the things that you are great at and then just practice, practice, practice. At first you may forget or feel silly trying these things but if you just try one thing at a time gradually you will start doing it without thinking.
I have read a lot of books and been to a number of seminars heard and learnt a lot of things but I would like to say that the above article is one of the most realistic and practical I have read.
Thanks for the personal insight Libby, your article is great and your tools that you use are some of the best I have heard in a while. The cancel thought from Linda really works too!