Okay, so here's a potentially new way for you to change your self-talk. This idea arose while attending Wendi Friesen's "radio" show earlier today: she asked us how we changed our negative self-talk and I remembered a process I do for something different that could be adapted to this purpose. Wendi liked it so much she made it the "homework" for the group today (she's going through manifesting all week this week, so if that's something that interests you, be sure to drop by tomorrow at noon Pacific).

So what is this wonderful process? Let me explain how I currently use it first, and then get to using it for self-talk.

This was originally a memory technique, for remember phone numbers to call later or other short bits of information. For example, I'd be driving on the freeway, listening to the radio, and I'd hear an ad I wanted to follow up on. Only problem is, I can't write while driving (that's not a safe thing to do) and I'm not in the habit of bringing a voice recorder with me (and the few times I've tried, I often can't understand what I said, and I tend to forget to check the thing when I get home). So instead, I write a "mental note" and file it in a "For Later Recall" slot.

Here's my specific visualization for that. I see a piece of paper, note-sized, kinda parchment-like. The whole scene is lit in a soft golden glow. I see the letters of the message forming as though they were being written, and sometimes I imagine the pen as well. Once I have the entire message there (and I look at it as a whole when done to "cement" the message on the paper), the paper is folded, then slid into a slot on the wall labeled "For Later Recall" or "To Remember When You Get Home" or "To Recall After 5 PM" or ... you get the idea.

Then I stop thinking about it.

This does work; I've used it many times to remember a number and name from a radio ad and had the recall hours later. The reasoning behind seeing the letters forming as opposed to "just there" is that it makes it more real, in a way, more permanent.

Now, how to turn this into a reprogramming tool? If you're as smart as I think you are, you're probably ahead of me on this. Write the new self-talk message down on the paper and put it in a slot marked "For Reprogramming" or whatever works for you.

It may take a little practice to get this process down, or it may start working immediately. I don't know which will happen, but I do know it will have a positive effect on you.

Okay, enough with the double binds already. I haven't tried using it this way yet, but I will do so tonight before going to bed. Given its success as a memory technique, however, I do feel confident it'll work for this as well ... don't you? ;)

Joshua

PS. As you no doubt noticed, this is a very visual process. It can easily be modified for the other modalities, I think; for auditory, you could "imagine" instead of visualizing and add in the audio of the message, with maybe a bank teller voice accepting the new program "for deposit" or something. For kinesthetic, *feel* the pen writing the message, the texture of the paper, the smoothness of the wall and the gap where the slot is, etc., while "imagining" the visual aspects. Heck, even if you're visual, throw in the other stuff, too! The more senses involved, the better, right? :D