Erasing Self-Negativity

Happy Weekend! As we near the weekend, I’d like to draw attention to the fact that yesterday was technically a national holiday - National Erase Self-Negativity Day. In light of this underrated holiday and the recognition it brings to mental health, I’m sharing some tips that help can help you erase self-negativity in your own life. 

One way to counter self-negativity daily is to create sticky note affirmations. Do you have a mirror you look at every morning? What about the door frame you walk through before school or work? If you have either one of these, you can pick up a pack of sticky notes (or pieces of paper with tape) and start using them for daily affirmations. Simply write a few positive affirmations on the notes and stick/tape them to a surface you spend one or two minutes looking at every day. This way, when you’re looking in the mirror or walking out the door, you have the opportunity to see and read positive things about yourself.

Another good habit to form (which can be bolstered by affirmations) is engaging in positive self-talk. Start paying close attention to the negative things you might say about yourself - out loud or in your head. Do you call yourself names? Do you make fun of yourself? Whatever negative self-talk you might engage in, begin calling it out and speaking over it. Even if it means saying, “I take that back, I didn’t mean that,” out loud, calling negativity out, then saying something else positive instead, begins a process of change which eventually becomes a habit. While this might be difficult at first, trust that once you make a habit of it, your brain may begin doing it automatically!

Having high levels of self-negativity often goes hand in hand with negative self-talk and a negative self-concept. Self-concept is generally composed of a person’s feelings and beliefs about themselves, such as personality, strengths/weaknesses, and relationships with others. Erasing self-negativity and all that contributes to it is key to improving self-concept, or just generally how you feel about yourself. Today, and hopefully throughout the future, please be mindful and stay positive!