We all talk to ourselves. But did you know that the latest research points out that these inner conversations can impact you in ways you never imagined?
According to Charles Fernyhough, a professor and researcher at Durham University in England, our self-talk helps us plan, regulate our emotions and be creative. With the help of medical-imaging technologies, researchers can now cast some light on some of the long-standing mysteries of the mind.
In recent studies, it appears that we have inner dialogues with ourselves, even though it’s just us. In other words, we leave neural pathways open for having internalized dialogues with others. Sometimes, it may be with someone that we know or have known (such as a deceased parent), but the findings also indicate it could just be an imaginary friend (or foe).
So what does this mean? It means that our thoughts and our internal dialogues can really shape and influence us in powerful ways. In fact, according to Fernyhough, “Asking ourselves questions and then answering them may be a crucial bit of apparatus for taking our thoughts into new territories.”
The new science of inner speech indicates that it’s anything but a solitary process. Consequently, much of the power of self-talk comes from the way we’re able to orchestrate our own dialogue between different points of view.
The next time you find yourself wanting to psych yourself up for a big challenge, talk your way through a tough spot or tap into your natural super powers, start the process of creating an inner dialogue.
With my current Sixty@60 challenge (completing 60 ironmans this year), I do this all the time, but I didn’t have a scientific understanding of the process until I recently read about the latest research. Personally, I call it “reframing” and I often take different viewpoints with my inner self-talk as I tackle a tough challenge. In other words, my initial conversation-starter in my head is shifted in my own internal dialogue.
This week, I was doing the first part of my ironman (the swim) in Lake Koocanusa, a cold-water lake that straddles northern Montana and Canada. Upon entering the water, my initial self-talk was, “This lake water is soooo cold. I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to swim 2.4 miles.” The reframed dialogue from another vantage point, quickly retorted “This cool water is so refreshing. It is clearing my mind and making me more present. I feel so alive.” In other words, instead of continuing down a path from my initial negative thought of “Whoa is me, this is going to be too hard;” I quickly reframe from a more positive perspective.
What if I didn’t have that inner conversation? If I had just listened to my initial solo voice, I would have, undoubtedly, walked back onto the shoreline after wading into the frigid lake and said, “I can’t do this! I’ll get hypothermia!”
Later, I would have been filled with regret…or at least with rationalizations that I made the right choice in the moment. By challenging my initial thoughts, however, I was able to stay calm and keep my emotions from taking over. I was also able to offer another point of view and continue the dialogue to something that was more aligned with my overall goals and the bigger picture. The result – I knocked out the swim and then completed Ironman #29 for the year…and I’m one step closer to the world record.
