The silent conversations you have with yourself can make or break your career success, and experts have discovered the self-talk that leads to high career success. Our careers are shaped from the inside out. Negative self-talk can colonize our hearts and dwarf career advancement if we allow it to run roughshod over our professional lives. Or it can lift us to unlimited career heights.
We have two versions of self-talk. One is lightning-fast and spontaneous—emanating from the reflexive part of the brain known as the emotional brain. This hard-wired, survival voice tends to be critical and negative and can lead to anxiety, depression, self-doubt and self-sabotage.
The second inner voice emanates from the prefrontal cortex or thinking brain which involves higher levels of reflective, intentional and positive thought. This rational voice is important for self-regulation. It is a learned skill that activates your “thinking brain,” mitigating the emotional brain’s dysfunctional mental states and unlocking healthier emotions such as calm, confidence, clarity and happiness—all of which promote career success.
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The research of professor Ethan Kross, psychologist at the University of Michigan, breaks down the science of self-talk even further. He has discovered that self-talk is essential for self-regulation and executive functioning, plus it’s a way to disable stress before and after a challenging event when we often ruminate about a performance at work.
