What you whisper to yourself is powerful. Your inner voice of reason or restriction is speaking right now.

Are you aware of the constant monologue inside your head that accepts or discards input, tells you to go or stay, live or fade?

Specifically, have you ever listened to your own train of thought and considered whether it was positive or destructive?

Your inner voice is constantly evaluating your life and giving instructions to your brain. You may not realize it, but your inner voice is directing all the activity. My inner voice has been not been so positive lately. I hear it in my comments to others. I think my self talk needs an adjustment.

So, with that awareness, maybe you and I should stop and listen to what is being said. Is your inner voice sarcastic? Critical? Mean? 

Is the voice we hear affirming or damaging?

Mine alternates between kind, soft, and lovely and sad, tired, and hopeful. Sometimes it is critical. What about your voice? Is it angry and resentful? Is it blah with a dose of give up?

Maybe your inner dialogue is a mixture of You can do it and You are a horrible person. Let’s change it.

Just like what you read, what you watch or see through your eye gate and what you say, your inner voice is an instruction manual. 

What are all these thoughts telling your brain to create?

Does you inner voice shout encouragement? Carpe diem! Seize the day!

Or does it tell you how many ways you have failed. “Remember that time you…”

Do your own thoughts sabotage your life?

The saving grace is that your inner voice isn’t really all you.

It is a combination of random thoughts and filters prompted by input, memories, photos, environment, conversation, or the last thing you read. It is made up of your input over your lifetime. Maybe a critical friend or parent. An angry spouse or laughing teammate. You may have participated in something ugly or sinister and allowed those voices in your life. Do you listen to music that encourages destruction? Those voices may become part of your soundtrack and inner voice.

If it isn’t positive, you need to change it.

It is imperative that you change your inner voice to instruct your brain to take you where you want to go. To affirm you, encourage you, and send you in a positive direction.

What is your inner voice telling you in the morning, at work, or with your significant other?

Even more important, what whispers cloud your judgement? 

Here are three significant ways to change your inner voice and stop sabotaging yourself:

First, I have started saying NO out loud when a thought that doesn’t line up with my beliefs tries to dominate or take over.

Saying no is a way of ending that thought pattern. Take charge and say No. I say No to the voice that says “You are old, useless, and heavy.” 

NO.

For a Christian, we can add “In the Name of Jesus.” It is a powerful weapon to stop the thoughts that aren’t positive, uplifting, and life giving. Obviously, we have to recognize negative thought patterns, so give it a try. Hear your inner monologue an thoughts throughout the day. You might be surprised.

Say No.

Secondly, you can retrain and reprogram your inner voice. To do it, you will have to know where you are headed and start focusing on that.  

That inner dialogue that is destructive may have been present since childhood, but there is no need to dwell on how you got this way. Instead, dwell on where you want to be. 

Focus on who you want to be. Get a picture of it in your mind. Make it clear.

Now, picture yourself doing and saying things you believe in. Imagine the life you want to live and focus on that.

Thoughts are creative and powerful so you will have to be intentional. If alcohol affects your inner voice, it can cause you to be down or depressed. If you want to drink to escape your thoughts, you should consider some time without it. Without question, alcohol can be destructive.

Most importantly, to retrain your inner voice to send positive encouraging life giving instructions to your brain, you will have to also change your environmental input.

Your life depends on it.

What goes in is what comes out.

Think about it. What would you tell a friend in an abusive relationship? No brainer right? You would say to them, “You need to leave, or divorce, or break up, get help.” You would encourage them to remove the abuser from their life. To remove your own self abusive behavior, you might need to retrain your brain that is calling you a failure or a bad person. Change your input.

By making some changes to your environment, the people you spend time with, the things you do in your off time, you can change it.

Surround yourself with positive people, great music, and laughter. Move if you have to. Change your job. Say goodbye to someone who sucks the life out of you.

Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

Good friends sharpen you, make you a better version of yourself.

In addition, give away that thing that makes you feel guilty. Stop drinking. Let go of every possible negative thing, thought, person, place, or plan and seize the day.

Note: Letting go of things we find difficult is not the same as letting go of destructive, negative, or sinister. Negative and destructive are hallmarks of things that make you less of a person. Things that are hard to do are not necessarily negative, such as raising children, working hard,  or going back to college.

What you whisper to yourself is so powerful.

Make those whispers be who you want to be deep down.  Picture it in your mind and start a better conversation with yourself.

Next time your inner voice says you can’t do it or look how you have failed, tell it NO and focus on what you want instead. If you are surrounded by better things and your input is positive, your inner voice will listen and get on your side!

If you are a Christian, and your inner voice could use a tune-up, scripture is the best way to dispel anything not of God. When you fill your mind with scripture, evil has no choice but to flee. Scripture is the sword of God. Fill your mind with good things.

Is your inner dialogue a help or a hindrance? Do you psyche yourself up or allow the relentless failure voice to destroy your own initiative? Ask God to help you change your thought life. If you can control your thoughts, you can change your life.

Barefoot and whispering lovely thoughts,

Kim

Philippians 4:8

7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable— if anything is excellent or praiseworthy— think on these things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.…

Psalms 46:10

10 Be still and know that I am God.

What you whisper to yourself is powerful.your