Self-Talk
I’ve been reading What To Say When You Talk To Yourself, and it describes a framework for how our inner world shapes what we do. It goes something like this:
- Programming: the messages we’ve absorbed over our lives, often without noticing
- Beliefs: the ideas we hold about ourselves and the world
- Habits: the patterns we fall into because of those beliefs
- Actions: the things we end up doing day to day
- Outcomes: the results we see in our lives
So the chain looks like:
Programming → Beliefs → Habits → Actions → Outcomes
The idea is that if we want to shift how we feel or behave, one place to start is by gently working with the “programming” part — the things we tell ourselves repeatedly. The book suggests using simple, compassionate statements and exposing yourself to them regularly. For example, writing down something like “I deserve kindness” or “I’m enough as I am,” reading it daily, or saying it out loud. The author also mentions recording yourself and then playing it on a loop while you sleep.
This isn’t meant to replace therapy, medication, or any other support people rely on. It’s just one tool among many. I’m sharing it because it helped me a little, and I’ve been dealing with depression for about twenty years. My self-talk has improved which makes me a little less stressed. If it’s useful for anyone else here, I’m glad — and if not, that’s completely okay too.