When you have to do something you don’t want to do, how do you talk to yourself about it?
I guess I’ll get it over with.
This isn’t fair.
I’ll probably screw this up.
There are a million reasons I shouldn’t have to do this.
I’m always bad at this.
I’m resentful, so I’ll won’t put much effort into it. That’ll show ‘em.
The voice we use to talk to ourselves sets the tone for everything else. Our facial expressions, vocal tone, word choices, and everything else are going to follow its lead.
What happens when we make a decision to listen to a different voice? To say, instead:
I’ll give this my best shot.
I don’t have to love it, but I’ll focus completely.
I get to decide what this experience means to me.
There are good reasons I get to do this.
I’ll knock this out of the park. That’ll show ‘em!
The voice that sets the tone isn’t the one that tells us what to do. It’s the one in our head that invites us how to feel about it.