We go through our days talking with people, and more often than not, we are conscious of what we are saying. We choose our words carefully so we don’t upset others or so that the meaning behind our words isn’t misunderstood. But what about the words we say to ourselves daily? What about the words we use when something happens or when we make a silly mistake?

What most people do not realize is that many of the words they say to themselves regularly harm them. Why, because what we say our mind will focus on and reinforce it! For example, one word I used frequently was struggling. I would say it constantly, any time things got difficult or I was having a “bad day.” Then, I realized this word was keeping my mind in a state that would not allow me to overcome my “struggles.” When I would say it, my mind would show me all of the reasons why I was struggling. It would show me mistakes I made, remind me of things that had “gone wrong” recently, and show me things from my past I had not thought about for a long time. But a simple change corrected this.

When I changed “struggle” to “challenge,” my mind shifted from reinforcing my struggles to trying to overcome them. I became a lot more creative and open-minded which allowed me to tackle anything that came my way and overcome it! To this day, I still use challenge and contribute much of my mindset to changing what I say to myself daily, and you can do the same!