Welcome everyone!
The presentation
will start soon.

How Self-Talk Helps
or Hinders Your
Resilience and
Wellness:

What is self-talk?
Self talk is an internal narrative or
running dialogue.
▪ It can be in our heads or
spoken out loud.
▪ It consists of a mixture of
conscious and unconscious
beliefs and biases.

▪ It can be directed towards
ourselves or other people.

Why does self-talk have the
power to help or hinder
our wellness and resilience?
The way we think about what happens to us
affects how we feel about it and how we
respond.
Self-talk is directly related to self-esteem, which
affects our resilience and sense of well-being.
Some thinking patterns can drive anxiety and
depression.
Other kinds of thinking patterns reduce stress,
support a strong immune system, and
help improve physical health.

In general, there are 2 types of self-talk:

Positive self-talk
We are bombarded daily by positive
sayings and images.
These can be helpful but sometimes may
seem cliché, trite or confusing.
Positive thinking on its own is not enough.

It’s important to choose carefully the
words we use to encourage others.

The point is not to ignore
negative self-talk or overlay it
with cheerful positivity.

Where does negative
self-talk come from?

Nick Wignall, clinical
psychologist and author

What are some different
names for negative self
talk?

Labeling: We describe ourselves or others in one
extreme negative way.
“I’m so stupid.
“He’s such a jerk.”

Magnifying/minimizing: We maximize our errors or
dismiss our strengths.
“I suck at skiing.”

Psychologists call these
“Cognitive distortions.”

Catastrophizing: We assume that the worst will
happen, and that a failure will lead to an escalating
cascade of negative events.

“ If I fall, I’m going to die.”
Mind reading: We assume we know what another
person is thinking. We interpret their behaviour as
negative when there are many explanations that could
be neutral or even positive.
“My student turned off his camera. He must think I’m
boring.”

Shirzad Chamine,
researcher, motivational
speaker, and author of
Positive Intelligence,

Shirzad and his team have
identified 10 Saboteurs, our
good qualities taken to the
extreme.
9 of them vary in degrees for
each person.

For example, the “ Pleaser.”

One saboteur is
universal and common
to all of us, “The
Judge,” “The Censor,”
or “The Inner Critic.”
-is extremely critical of mistakes or
shortcomings.
- is fixated on what is wrong with you or
with others.
- causes you to worry obsessively or
unnecessarily.

- warns you repeatedly about possible
future risks.

Oh, the pressure!

Brene Brown,

author, researcher,
professor and
motivational speaker,

Ways to engage your nonthinking brain and bring your
self into the moment.

Effective positive self-talk

That’s a hard entrance!

Some other useful ideas when facing change:
✓

✓
✓
✓

Carol Dweck,
author, researcher and
Stanford professor,
known for the concept of

Growth mindset
-

The brain is like a muscle that you can grow the
way muscles grow through exercise.

-

With growth mindset, the process—not the
outcome—is the most important component.

-

Too much focus on the outcome creates pressure
anxiety, a “perpetual feeling of uncertainty, fear, or
even dread” about whether you can perform as you
should or how others expect you to.

-

With practice, you will see pressure
situations as challenges that build confidence.

Neuroscience






Change is hard, even
if we want and
welcome it.

Change pushes us out of
our comfort zone.

The benefit is growth.

Quotes from the experts:






Final thoughts
•
•
•
•
•

Thank you for
listening!
Any questions?