I am not good at math.

I can’t keep my room clean.

I am not a fast runner.

I can’t stick to a diet.

I have no willpower.

These are all lies we tell ourselves. Have you ever heard yourself say these things? I am sure you can come up with a list of other lies you tell yourself. Why do we tell ourselves such mean things? If a stranger came up to you and said, “You are not a fast runner and you should stop running today.” You may feel like slapping him. What if your boss told you “You can’t stick to a diet and you have no will power.” I think you may not feel very good about hearing that comment and it may even make you feel depressed and worthless. But we say these things to ourselves all the time. We may look into a mirror and think Wow I am fat, look at my wrinkles, and my hair is terrible. We think these thoughts all day, everyday. We constantly talk to ourselves and say mean things. After a while we begin to belive these thoughts. Our brain hears us say that we have no willpower over and over again and so when we are faced with a choice to step away from the cake table and stick to our diet. We know that we have no willpower and we blame our lack of willpower on our failing diets. What if we stop????? What if we start to say things like

I am strong.

I worked very hard today.

I can keep a clean room.

I  was early to work today, I love being on time.

These things may sound silly to say, but why not say them? Why not be nice to yourself?

Plan of action= pay attention to how many times you say mean and negative things to yourself. When you hear yourself say something mean replace it with something nice. After a while these words may begin to be beliefs, and you can have a better positive perception of yourself. So the next time we step up to the cake table we know that we have strong willpower and nothing is going to get in the way of sticking to our diet.