How often do you hear that little voice in your head tell you that you aren’t good enough? Negative self-talk can hinder your progress in life and hold you back from achieving your goals. There are ways to turn your inner voice into a positive one. Follow the ten tips below and create a new positive and helpful voice that will build your confidence, empower you, and change your life for the better.

1. Affirmations:
Using positive affirmations can help program your mind to speak in a positive voice more often. They are positive statements written in the present tense. You should say them out loud first thing in the morning when you wake up and before you go to sleep at night as these are the times when your brain is at its most receptive. Regular repetition throughout the day will reinforce the positive messages and help them become second nature.

2. Awareness:
It’s important to be aware of that voice in your head. Listen to what and how it is talking to you. If it is constantly negative, then you need to turn it into a supportive and positive voice. Listen carefully and when you catch a negative thought, say “STOP” and change it into a positive statement instead.

3. Meditate:
Regular meditation can help you develop greater control over your thoughts and emotions. You will learn how to listen carefully and to quieten your inner voice. This will help you create a sense of calm and peace, lessening stress and anxiety. As you gain greater control over your mind, you will be able to silence the negative voice when it starts to speak.

4. Be Grateful:
Take time every day to think of at least three things you are grateful for. It’s all too easy to lose yourself in the negative aspects of the day and to give in to the negative voice in your head. Instead, focus on the positive and be grateful. Write what you are grateful for in a journal so that you can remember and revisit, if needed.

5. Change Your Perspective:
Catastrophic thinking can be all too easy and take over in times of stress or anxiety. Instead of thinking of all the negative outcomes, stand back and look at the situation from a different point of view.

6. Distance Yourself:
Create some distance between yourself and your emotions. An effective, yet simple way to do this is to think in third person. So, instead of saying to yourself, “I’m really angry with myself because…”, say, “You’re really angry. Why?” By creating psychological distance, a study by Ethan Kross, PhD of the University of Michigan, found that participants were able to regulate their emotions and reduce discomfort.

7. Say, “I don’t”:
One simple change you can make is to use the phrase, “I don’t,” instead of, “I can’t”. By saying “I don’t,” you are taking responsibility and ownership of your thoughts. If you are trying to lose weight then instead of saying, “I can’t eat cake” say, “I don’t eat cake”. The power of this approach was found in a study by Vanessa Patrick at the University of Houston.

8. Use NLP, Coaching or Hypnotherapy:
By investing in professional help, you will have the benefit of mentoring and accountability. These professionals are able to use a range of tools to help change your subconscious mind and remove blocks, change language and thought patterns and create new positive habits and behavior.

9. Body Language:
Changing your body language can change your outlook and increase your sense of positivity and self-confidence. Stand or sit up straight with your shoulders back, hold your head high and smile.

10. Use Oracle Cards:
Oracle Cards can be a really useful tool to help you connect with your subconscious and also to create change in your life. They include positive inspirational images, affirmations and ideas about how to create change. Pick a card each morning to guide you through the day creating positive change. If you don’t want to use the cards yourself, you can get a reading done by a professional oracle reader; many of whom are also coaches, Neuro Linguistic Programming Practitioners or hypnotherapists.

Inner peace can be yours. Why not start experiencing it right now?

This article originally appeared in the Summer 2018 issue of CHOICES Magazine