Say It and Believe

It's no secret that internal dialogue often influences the way people motivate and shape their behavior. Years back, I was inspired by a motivational speaker that encouraged self-affirmations on a daily basis. “I like myself” he encouraged us to say in the mirror, “I’m a GREAT salesperson!” So I did. And every time I did, I found myself chuckling. It made me feel, well, sort of foolish, dopey and, yes I will say it, good all at the same time. As a young trainer, I encouraged my pupils to do the same. I received relentless flack, from video spoofs to teasing, to an endless variety of pranks targeting the “I like myself!” affirmation. For each I laughed and took it all in stride, because, frankly, it is sort of funny to self proclaim how great you are.

The thing is, it works. Now I’m not saying that if you say “I am going to have a million dollars” every day for a year you will. You might, but the real point of self-affirmations (from my very un-clinical perspective) is how they make you feel. Nobody doubts that if I internally declare myself a bad person on a daily basis, that sooner or later I will most likely start to believe it. So why not the other way?

My former colleague Stasia Vishnevsky sent me this video yesterday, and all I have to say is, this is the kind of person I want on my team. When you yell, “Can we do it?” you can bet she is going to yell back, “Yes we can!”

Enjoy. Then get in front of the mirror and say a little something nice to yourself. If nothing else, you’ll get a good chuckle.