"Rewriting Your Internal Narrative: Tips for Changing the Stories We Tell Ourselves"

Changing the stories we tell ourselves is an important step in personal growth and self-improvement. Our internal narrative shapes our thoughts and actions, and can often hold us back from achieving our goals and living our best life. But how can we change these stories? Here are a few tips:

1. Identify your negative thoughts and beliefs. The first step in changing your internal narrative is to become aware of it. Start paying attention to the thoughts and beliefs that hold you back and make you feel negative or defeated.

2. Challenge these thoughts and beliefs. Once you have identified your negative thoughts, it's important to question them. Are they truly accurate or are they just one perspective? Are they based on facts or assumptions?

3. Reframe your thoughts and beliefs. Once you have challenged your negative thoughts, it's time to reframe them in a more positive light. Look for the silver lining in difficult situations, and focus on the things that are going well in your life.

4. Create a new narrative. Use the reframed thoughts and beliefs to create a new, more positive narrative for yourself. Repeat this new narrative to yourself, and focus on it when you find yourself slipping back into old, negative patterns of thinking.

5. Practice mindfulness. Mindfulness is the practice of being present and non-judgmental. It can help you to be aware of your thoughts and emotions as they happen, which can make it easier to identify negative thoughts and beliefs, and to change them.

6. Surround yourself with positive influences. Our environment has a big impact on our thoughts and beliefs. Surround yourself with people who uplift and inspire you and seek out positive role models.

Speaking of positive role models, here is an article from the New America by Emily Esfahani Smith (learn about her here), which gives a quote by Thomas Jefferson, a positive role model, “The real American Dream, he (Jefferson) argued, “is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.” You can become the person you were meant to be. The American Dream is still alive, we just have to be brave enough to fight for it. One way we fight for it is to change the stories in our minds.

Remember, changing the stories we tell ourselves is a process and it takes time. Be patient with yourself and keep working at it. With time and practice, you'll be able to change your internal narrative and live a more positive, fulfilling life.