Grace Massoud wrote this article in MTV Website:

New emotional muscles should be exercised when we feel like things are getting out of hand in stressful situations. Acquiring emotional self-regulation makes us more proficient in all walks of life, performing at a higher level, nurturing better relationships, and fostering superior physical and mental health.

Self-talk is one of the easiest ways to emotionally self-regulate. It shapes our sense of self.

Have you ever given yourself a pep talk while working out? “Come on, you can do this, just think how great your butt is gonna look after this session”. This is a form of self-talk motivating you to push past the pain and discomfort. On the other end of the spectrum is your inner critic making you sadder and more depressed. All that bastard ever does is get in your way, impairing your capacity to think and perform, hindering your emotional and physical health, and creating friction in your relationships. This chatter, this negative type of self-talk leaves you feeling bad. However, there’s no need to silence this voice, because it does help in certain situations, and to some extent, simply learn how to harness it. 

Be your own coach by distancing yourself psychologically. “You got this”, using “You” instead of “I’ or “Me” allows you to take a step back and reflect on yourself objectively, thus switching perspective in a quick manner. It can be very helpful in coping with stressful circumstances to use second or third-person language. This exercise would reduce anxiousness and boost performance.

A new self-talk strategy to supercharge performance and resilience involves superheroes. Psychologist Ethan Cross explains it after testing this theory with six-year-old children. He got them to execute a task both tedious and frustrating. They had to press a button if they saw a picture of cheese on the screen, and refrain from pressing it if a cat pops up. Some were instructed to perform while using first person pronouns “Am I working hard?”, “How can I do better?”. The second group of kids were given a superset of instructions: make believe you’re a superhero and utilize your superhero name to coach yourself through an issue.

The second group stuck with the task twice as long as the other children. Distant self-talk along with the superhero persona transformed Ethan’s subjects into performance champions. How easy, how cool was that?

“Super-insertyournamehere can handle anything that comes her way”. Use this method to remind yourself of your power and capability. You will be unstoppable in all your pursuits and feel like the world is your oyster.

To wrap things up, avoid negative self-talk like the plague, even as a joke. Your body doesn’t know the difference and will believe whatever you tell it. So, tell it beautiful, kind, uplifting words.