HOW TO REFRAME NEGATIVES

The good news about our brain is that it can be trained to behave differently through repeated actions and active choices.

CHANGE YOUR INNER VOICE “Do you have a voice in your head that tells you that you can’t do stuff? That you are silly, clumsy, unattractive? Maybe this came from an adult you trusted to guide you so you listened to them and absorbed what they said,” says Goddard-Hill. “This unhelpful voice needs to be replaced with a helpful voice that cheers you on and encourages you – your inner voice needs to be your BFF.”

FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN DO, NOT WHAT YOU CAN’T We all need to make sure that our thoughts are positive and healthy if we want to be calm and confident. Says Goddard-Hill, “They don’t need to lie to us and tell us that we are amazing at everything, but they do need to be positive and to encourage and focus on what you can do – ‘I can learn new things,

I can take a class, I can develop my skills.’”

SPEAK POSITIVELY Positive affirmation has been shown to have a demonstrable effect on future behaviour. If you usually think, ‘I am rubbish at maths,’ try replacing that thought with the positive affirmation: ‘I am getting better at maths with every lesson.’ Likewise, ‘I am nervous’ could be replaced with: ‘I am growing in confidence.’ Goddard-Hill suggests, “Choose your affirmation and practice saying it out loud five times each day. Try it for a week and see if you feel any different.”