I like to read while I’m on vacation, and my reading list on vacation always includes one book that will help me learn and grow professionally.
This year that book was Entrepreneurial Leadership by Joel Peterson.
“We become what we think about.” – Joel Peterson
This statement arrested my attention. How many times have I coached others and myself that what we say to ourselves matters? We must be intentional about talking to ourselves or our very natural, debilitating, default will be to listen to ourselves.
Peterson went on to add that “…self-management – the starting point for leading others – emanates from a code deep within that can be ‘cracked’ with self-talk.”
I carried many things away from his but these two take-away’s have continued to impact me:
- Talking to myself is how I manage my emotions and my mindset.
Self-talk = Self-management = Effective leadership
- I must be intentional in choosing what to say to myself.
Peterson called them “mantras”, statements that I deliberately say to myself until those truths become my default responses.
If you fight negative thoughts, defeatism, fear, or overwhelm as we all do from time to time, maybe it’s time to stop listening to yourself and start talking to yourself.