Transforming negative self-talk and overcoming toxic thought scripts is important. They are the key to a healthy mind. Reprogramming self-talk patterns is an inner work process that pays dividends immediately.
Most people don’t know whether their worldview contains toxic beliefs. We can see the effects that harmful thinking causes. For the individual, it manifests as mental health and relationship issues. Our society manifests harmful thinking that perpetuates harmful norms. These result in conflicts, discrimination, and violence.
Without changing our pattern of thought, we will not be able to solve the problems we created with our current patterns of thought. — Albert Einstein
Most people want the world to be a better place for everyone, not just a few. If we want a better world, we need to change our thinking. To do this, we must overcome the critical mass of harmful religious bias, commercialism, and greedy capitalism. It all begins with transforming negative self-talk.
You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created. ― Albert Einstein
Breaking Free from Toxic Beliefs
Not all patterns of thinking or habits are harmful. We often consciously learn to adopt good habits while we gain bad habits as coping skills to deal with something. They are often a way to handle stress, boredom, pain, or fear. Other times, they are simply a pattern caused by an addiction. The one thing they have in common is that they are thought patterns that result in a behavior.
The hardest to deal with are addictive behaviors. If you have one, you likely know about it. If you have the right help, you can deal with addictions even if they cannot be cured. Don’t go it alone. Seek the appropriate professional help. Transforming toxic beliefs and thoughts will change your life for the better.
If it is a harmful coping skill, then you can change it by reprogramming self-talk patterns. That is what we want to discuss here. It isn’t a substitute for the treatment you need to handle an addiction. Some addiction counselors do use the technique we are going to discuss, but they use it along with other therapies and medication.
Increase Self-Awareness in Changing Self-Talk Patterns
Every positive change in society starts with the individual, which is why we promote inner work and self-development. These tools help us make positive changes and expand awareness. When awareness grows, so does our conscience. We need more people with a healthy conscience. Harmful actions begin as thoughts. So, everyone can change the world within their sphere of influence, starting with changing themselves. (1)
Breaking free from toxic beliefs starts with observation and recognition. We must learn to observe the internal dialogue. But observing changes nothing, we must judge the merits of our thoughts, and take actions to correct them. If an idea is harmful, it should be removed. Overcoming harmful thought patterns gives us space gives us space for positive thought scripts. ― Guru Tua
Reprogramming Self-Talk Patterns Starts with Identification
The key to transforming negative self-talk is developing self-awareness. Self-awareness enables us to identify thought scripts and observe them as we use them.
The first step is learning to monitor your thoughts; to think about what you are thinking about. ― Neale Donald Walsch
Observation is determined by the bandwidth of your external and self-awareness. External awareness is based on your perception and understanding of the external world. It involves being conscious of your surroundings and the issues of your community and the world.
Self-awareness is about being conscious of your emotions, beliefs, motivations, and behaviors. This state involves the ability to analyze the experience of your consciousness. The more self-awareness you have, the greater your control over thought and emotion. You are less likely to lose control of emotions or be persuaded by propaganda. Self-awareness is like having an internal mirror that reflects your mind. (2) This is why self-awareness in changing self-talk patterns is so important.
Identifying and Transforming Toxic Beliefs
Patterns of thinking are habitual thought scripts, and because they are habits, they are hard to break. The more exposure we have to advertising and propaganda, the more vulnerable we become to negative programming. The first thing we need to do is identify toxic thought scripts. Here is a list of the top ten.
1. Religious Extremism is the belief that one’s religious doctrine is correct and superior to all others. It results in intolerance, discrimination, and violence toward those with differing beliefs. It’s as simple as that.
Is your beloved religion the home of extremism? Look at what it supports, what it causes, and what it rallies against. Most of the beliefs and values of Western organized religion are toxic. Overcoming toxic thought scripts based on religious beliefs can take time. These beliefs are often ingrained and reinforced with formal and informal indoctrination.
Reprogramming self-talk patterns based on religious ideology is hard because it is part of our culture. There are many sources for this harmful programming. Churches and temples are the traditional sources of indoctrination. It then moved to radio, television and now proliferate social media.
2. Political Extremism is an ideology motivated by fear and anger that seeks to control the government. Extremists often create scapegoats to place blame and justify their actions.
3. Racism is about believing that certain races are superior or inferior to others. /Racism is used to justify prejudice, discrimination, and inequality.
4. Sexism is the belief that the male gender is superior to the female gender. This creates stereotypes to support oppression and marginalization based on sex.
5. Classism holds that social class and economic status determine a person’s worth. This mindset results in unfair treatment and the perpetuation of social hierarchies.
6. Homophobia is an irrational fear of or intolerance of homosexuality. It’s a prejudice that leads to the discrimination and mistreatment of LGBTQ+ individuals.
7. Nationalism is unhealthy pride and fixation on national identity. It is an extreme form of patriotism that often involves a disdain for other countries and can cause xenophobia and conflict.
8. Catastrophizing is expecting the worst probable outcome. It’s a mindset that blows minor issues out of proportion and creates a pessimistic outlook. This outlook stifles your ability to see opportunities and solutions.
9. Conspiracy Theories are propaganda tools. They are used to create beliefs in unfounded ideas. Their main purpose is to create confusion, which leads to mistrust in institutions and the spread of misinformation.
10. Superiority Complex is the belief that you are superior to others. This mindset causes selfishness, arrogance, elitism, and the devaluation of others.
Where did we get these negative ideas? Social media is full of outlets that spew harmful ideas. Minimizing and eliminating the source can be difficult because the sources are often part of a pattern of behavior. Changing thought patterns can be uncomfortable, but the results are worth the effort. (3) Transforming toxic beliefs into positive beliefs improves everyone’s life.
Overcoming Toxic Thought Scripts
We need help to see these patterns because they are often deeply ingrained beliefs. We don’t like to walk on, let alone dig up our sacred ground of beliefs. They are hard to observe unless we make a conscious effort and use the proper techniques. We cannot change what we cannot see. (4)
These habitual patterns are significant, as they are the default settings of awareness. As children, we fashion thought routines that become habitual. Our parents and our culture also help to form these patterns. These sources help to create the thought patterns and values of our worldview. The quality of these depends on the messages you receive. Hopefully, this programming is positive and not harmful.
We are creatures born to explore. Exploring the unknown draws us to the Hero’s Journey, and it’s only natural for us to want to grow beyond the default settings. Growth is possible by breaking free from toxic beliefs. These are the patterns that create cycles of unhealthy thinking.
Either you must control your thoughts or the outside forces will control them. Be warned that the outside forces usually consist of fears, worries, and doubts. ― Maddy Malhotra, How to Build Self-Esteem and Be Confident: Overcome Fears, Break Habits, Be Successful and Happy
Tools for Transforming Negative Self-Talk
We can learn about our level of awareness by using an inner work process, which helps us identify the programming and processes of the mind.
1. Identify or find the negative scripts
2. Replace the harmful scripts
3. Reinforce the positive scripts
4. Avoid the Source of Negative Programming
The mind naturally resists change, so we must keep our focus on the goal. If you are like most people, you will fall back into old patterns. But when you do, you will spot them and then take the proper action to correct them. Be patient and gentle with yourself, but also persistent. Don’t give up. Inner work like this can benefit from working with a group or a partner.
1. Identify the Harmful Thought Scripts
The first step in overcoming toxic thought scripts is to identify them. Use your spiritual journal to help you spot trends. You can do this by conducting some experiments with the following processes:
— Automatic Writing Techniques
— Delving into Memories
— Comparative Analysis
We recommend you use all three processes. If you do, you’ll see patterns of thought and value. Breaking free from toxic beliefs starts with finding them. These patterns will include things like values, bias, and prejudice. We don’t like to look at these, but we need to find the harmful thought scripts that keep these stereotypes in place.
Using inner work tools increases your self-awareness, perception, and observational abilities. Increased self-awareness in changing self-talk patterns will make the change process easier. Reprogramming self-talk patterns is like peeling an onion; it has many layers.
Write the words and phrases you hear yourself repeating inside your head. These are the words and phrases that reinforce and shape reality. These harmful scripts often come from outside sources, so you’ll need to eliminate your exposure to them. Often, the sources of these scripts are religious and political propaganda masquerading as news.
We hope you have the desire and courage to change harmful things. However, sometimes, people don’t understand that their religious prejudice is unhealthy and destructive. That is the first challenge to this exercise.
If you do decide to make some changes, you are ready to replace the negative with the positive.
2. Replace the Harmful Scripts with Positive Ones
By monitoring your negative self-talk, you can change it into positive, affirming self-talk. When you observe harmful thoughts, stop. Instead, insert the positive words you want. The key is learning to catch yourself when you use negative self-talk. Affirmations drive self-awareness in changing self-talk patterns.
Insert language into your self-talk to achieve the desired result. Write the words or phrases you want to use on sticky notes to see and remember the new expression. You can stick them in your car, on the refrigerator door, everywhere. Set up an hourly reminder on your smartphone with these desired replacement phrases.
Learn to spot the triggers that prompt this self-talk, especially if these words and phrases are negative. What are the situations and emotions that cause negative self-talk?
3. Reinforce the Desired Change
When you catch yourself falling back into old patterns, stop yourself. Everyone falls back into old habits because they are habitual scripts. But, the more you become accustomed to this practice, the more aware of your self-talk you will become. Transforming toxic beliefs will make you more aware of having the clarity of a healthy mind.
Positive scripts can help to break the patterns of negative thoughts, but you must be diligent.
When you finally see the words and phrases of your internal dialogue, you can decide what you want to change. If what you are saying to yourself is what you want more of, reinforce it. If not, change it. Reprogramming self-talk patterns can change your life.
To reinforce the change, use affirmations. These are the thought scripts that are the heart of the law of attraction. You can think of the right words, but your attitude is the fuel. A negative mindset will negate your positive comments. Don’t skip steps. Follow the process. Use affirmations last.
For instance, repeat a positive mantra, such as “My words shape my reality, and I am creating _____.”
4. Avoid Negative Programming
One last but important point here: You must avoid the sources of negative programming. Otherwise, it will simply reinstall the old scripts. Five minutes of negative programming can undo all of your hard work.
So, be mindful of your exposure. Avoid anything that provides religious programming. If that means avoiding or limiting conversations with friends, then you’ll need to consider it. Breaking or saving a friendship with someone who supports far-right ideology is a tough choice.
There are things you can do to expand your awareness and become more resistant and resilient. Several other technologies can also expand awareness and change the way we think. The ancient pioneers of spiritual exploration gave us these tools to help us recognize how and what we believe. They showed us how to move beyond the boundaries of belief.
Summary of Overcoming Toxic Thought Scripts
Spring cleaning and decluttering are positive behaviors that give us space for the things we value. The same is true for the mind. Transforming toxic beliefs into positive ones is the spring-cleaning process for the mind. Take the time to spring clean the unhealthy thought scripts that are holding you back.
Identifying and changing self-talk patterns isn’t a one-time process. Removing unhealthy programming is something you should do regularly. Don’t wait. Take steps to take your journey to a better level of health. It will take some serious inner work, but the results are worth it for you and everyone in your sphere of influence. Remember, breaking free from toxic beliefs is necessary to make positive changes. It’s a process that starts with reprogramming self-talk patterns.
References
(1) Your Best Life: Managing Negative Thoughts—The Choice is Yours. National Laboratory of Medicine
(2) Evidence for Transdiagnostic Repetitive Negative Thinking and Its Association with Rumination, Worry, Depression, and Anxiety Symptoms. A Commonality Analysis: National Laboratory of Medicine
(3) What Research Says About Breaking the Negative Thought Cycle, Education Week. edweek.org
(4) Positive thinking: Stop negative self-talk to reduce stress. The Mayo Clinic