The Importance of Catch Phrases

There are certain phrases that, when I say them, instantly give me a happiness boost.  These little catch-phrases or mantras are so helpful for me when I need to redirect my thoughts from worry or negativity.  I find that when I really examine my thoughts, I'm often pretty hard on myself.  If I'm not mindful of my thoughts, I won't even notice myself thinking negative things like, "I'll never get this all done." or "I'm so drained."

But once I'm mindful of the little phrases that are running through my thoughts, I can pretty easily replace the judgmental or worried thoughts I might have with my little mantras.  (Social skills guru Michelle Garcia Winner calls this "using my inner coach.")

Here are some of the cheerleader-ish phrases my inner coach tells me:

You can do this.

No biggie.

Do your best and be done with it.

Respond with a blessing.

Do it now.

Be silly; have fun.

It'll be fine.

You will succeed in everything. 

I think that mantras are really helpful, but first we have to will ourselves to be mindful of our thoughts to really figure out what phrases are flying through our heads making us stressed or anxious or sad.  Are we letting un-guarded thoughts mess with our mood?  If so, let's guard our thoughts!  Let's only allow those thoughts that build us up inside our minds. 

And now, because I'm tired of hearing myself think, "I'm so tired," every day at work, I'm going to get myself to bed.  And tomorrow, I'll say, "I got enough sleep," which will make all the difference.



What phrases boost your confidence or happiness just by thinking them?

Words Have Power

As I was driving the icy roads between the thousands of speech sessions and IEP meetings I juggled today, with a crazy long mental to-do list that was in serious need of being written down, and therefore, with a pretty huge degree of worry that I'd forget something important, I realized something.

My stressed out moments weren't making me as insane as normal.

And I think I figured out why.

Instead of my normal thoughts like, "I'll never get all this done." or "How in the world can I meet all these deadlines?", my brain was saying little phrases from my happiness project, like,

"Do what needs to be done."

"Do your best and be done with it."

"Do it now."

"All you can do is what you can do."

Now, I'm trying not to get too "Dr. Phil" on you, but the power of these little phrases really struck me. They're actually changing my response to stress somehow. This is kind of groundbreaking for me.

So now I'm off to battle a mountain of paperwork. But somehow, thinking of it as "Doing what needs to be done" makes it a little more noble and a little more manageable.


What phrases keep you motivated when you're overwhelmed?