Five Steps To Positive Self-Talk

Many years ago, I took the Silva Mind Control course over a late winter weekend in Chicago. The course was transformative and much of the information has become part of my daily meditation practice.

Two years later, I was learning the same material from Father Eli in the Ozark mountains of Arkansas. My experience there even surpassed what I learned from the Silva training.

I asked Father Eli if he had heard of the Silva method and why it was so similar to what he was teaching. With reference to the teachings, without the slightest hesitation and with great confidence, he said, “They [the teachings] better be the same! Jose was one of my students!”

I had found the root teacher of Silva Mind Control and was learning how to teach it to other people to help them improve their lives. These were the formative years as a meditation teacher. My Achieve Goals Guided Meditation and all the others are based solidly on these teachings.

The Silva method has come back into my life in the form of the Silva Life System from Mindvalley.

One of the practices that I used to use quite a bit was the practice of monitoring my own self-talk. To this end, I found this article that talks about the five steps to positive self-talk and I want to share them with you. The article is titled, How to Create a Habit of Positive Self-Talk.

The article describes how to develop positive self-talk in five steps.

Step 1 is identification of one or two statements of self-talk that you repeat to yourself daily that deal with a current problem or issue. It would be a good practice to write them down and notice how and when you use them.

Step 2 is to create a statement that refutes each of the statements from step 1. This will help you get  your mind on what you want and not what you don’t want. Use these as positive affirmations that refute the negative self-talk.

Step 3 is to say to yourself, “Cancel, cancel,” when you notice that you are falling into the trap of negative self-talk. Replace it with the positive affirmations from step 2.

Step 4 is to reinforce the positive self-talk whenever you are in a relaxed state of mind. You may want to use my Achieve Goals Guided Meditation to help you get into a relaxed frame of mind. Then repeat the positive affirmations from step 2 at least 10 times each.

Step 5 is to continue to practice these five steps for a minimum of 21 days to instill a new habit in your mind. This will strengthen you neural connections and change your brain to think positive thoughts.

Over the years since my Silva training, I have found myself using step 3 and 4 a lot. This process seems to work well from me too.

What do you say to yourself? What self-talk do you want to transform?