Every good Jedi must learn to harness the light side of the Force. The Force is nothing more than the power of your mind, and this week, it’s time to start using your mind for good to conquer the dark side that may be a breeding ground for negative thoughts. To be honest, I’m not really a Star Wars geek, but I think you’ll find the metaphor apt.

Harness your mind by becoming aware of your self-talk, something that I’ll teach you to do in this week’s blog.

Try this reframing exercise as a way of analyzing and challenging some of your more hurtful and negative thoughts:

•  Write down some of your most common, and critical, thoughts or phrases on a note card.
•  Alone or with a friend go through your stack of cards, flipping them up one at a time.
•  Each time a new thought card is up, refute the thought with logic and facts.  For example, if your thought is, “Boy, I sure am stupid,” state all the ways you are smart (e.g. you began combatting your negative self-talk!).  Refute your self-talk out loud and with conviction.
•  Go through your stack of thoughts often so that the process of negative self-talk refutation becomes second nature.

Bonus Tip: Put your key positive self-talk comments on notecards (with examples) and keep them handy for a quick read whenever you’re feeling a little down on yourself.

Learn more about minding your thoughts, the power of self-talk, and challenging your thoughts in this week’s Feed Your Life blog.

Sara Armstrong is the owner of Zoi Wellness Consulting. In addition to wellness coaching, Sara specializes in health education seminars, diabetes prevention and management, Health for EVERY Body, and worksite wellness design. You can email Sara for a free wellness consultation at sara@zoiconsulting.com.