Sometimes we say things in our heads that aren’t great. We berate ourselves for mistakes, we have negative thoughts about our appearance and we limit ourselves by saying ‘I can’t do that’. Here’s five ways to talk a bit more positively about and to yourself.

1. Affirmations – I was a little unconvinced about the likelihood of an affirmation having any effect at all but, after a month of saying ‘You’re going to have a good day’ to myself in the bathroom mirror, I can report that it definitely put me in a positive frame of mind at the beginning of the day. What have you got to lose?

2. Respect – I’m a firm believer in respect coming from within. Other people feed off your reactions and emotions and, if you’re showing yourself respect, others are more likely to.

3. Friendship – Think about some of the thoughts you’ve had about yourself today. Would you say them to a friend or would you hold back for fear of hurting their feelings. There’s your test; if you wouldn’t say it to someone else, don’t say it to yourself.

4. Patience – I’ve had a bit of an epiphany recently, I’ve started cutting myself a little slack. Here you can apply the question ‘Did it really matter?’ I mean in the wider sense? Could an appointment be rearranged? Could you post that card today? If it can be sorted, brilliant. If not, see number 5!

5. Learning from experience – Life is for learning, use each issue as a learning opportunity. If you’re always forgetting to do a particular task, set an alarm on your phone. If you don’t like the fact your clothes are getting a little tight, run up and down the stairs instead of opening the fridge! Change your behaviours just a tiny bit and it’ll change you.

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