Skills Guide Content
Goal: Learn how to intentionally shift mind-set
Negative self-talk is really good at decreasing motivation and follow-through. Negative self-talk works effectively well at shutting down a person’s mind with criticism, and poor self-esteem. Conversely, positive self-talk works too!
Having a few positive statements about yourself that get repeated often can give someone the extra boost to be persistent even when facing a challenge. Do you have a positive statement you can share with your student about their hard work, imagination, tenacity, or attitude?
- Write it down for them
- Put it somewhere that they will see often
- Repeat it to them before they start a project or study session and after they do something particularly challenging
Activity from Planner
Are there predictable times when you feel anxiety? Do you feel the pressure of unmet expectations, or a potential negative outcome?
Take a minute and bring in the opposite feeling.
Take a deep breath and say an affirmation from the list below out loud.
Affirmations:
- I got this
- I can do this
- I am strong
- I am going to keep trying
- I’m learning and will improve
Extended Activity
Are there predictable times when you feel anxiety? Such as walking into a performance, onto a sports field for a game, into school or work, and feeling alone? Do you feel the pressure of unmet expectations, a potential negative outcome, or the ambition towards perfection and feeling it drive you downwards? What are you saying to yourself in these moments? I can’t… I won’t… I’ll fail… what if… If you are like most people, you probably have some negative thoughts that can play on repeat.
Let’s take a minute and bring in the opposite feeling.
Imagine one of these predictable moments. Take a deep breath and let it out fully. Bring in fresh, life-giving air, and release the old familiar pattern. Roll your shoulders back and into place, straighten your posture so you rise up tall, and say the following out loud to yourself:
- “I got this.”
- “I can do this.”
- “I can feel the fear and do it anyway.”
- “I am a rockstar.”
- “I am strong.”
- “I am going to keep trying,”
- “I’m learning and, I will get better.”
It won’t feel natural, but if you practice doing this outside of those anxiety-filled moments, you are laying a foundation to be better prepared in the midst of them.
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