Research shows that if we can use “self-talk” (and it works with others, too!) that envisions clearly and compellingly a picture of the kind of behaviors we want to reinforce, that literally creates new avenues in our brains that move us closer to those behaviors.
We all know that there are whole books on self-affirmations – and they DO work! And it doesn’t have to be just words – affirmations can be images, pictures, music – anything that prompts us to remember our goals and motivations for affirming ourselves and others and reinforcing our new ways of being and interacting. And creating a set of rewards for ourselves and others for new behaviors adds another layer of motivation to keep working on and improving our new selves!