When you wake up in the morning and start thinking about your day, what’s the first thought that goes through your head? Is it a positive thought or one that’s negative?

Listening to any self-criticism or negativity from within is a process that can be difficult to do—especially if you’ve allowed negativity to creep in each day.

The challenge is to turn things around and find a way to handle the negativity and focus on how you’re feeling.

Repression doesn’t work. Lashing out doesn’t either.

Some of the simplest of skills can be helpful in handling the thoughts going through your mind.

If I’m undergoing a stressful situation, I stop and think about how I feel and what I think about it. Am I scared, worried, anxious, or confused? Taking time for a daily check-in on my feelings is important because I need to process how I’m feeling.

In modern America, many men don’t talk about their feelings, let alone work on expressing how they feel.

The lack of healthy ways to handle emotions and seeing such behavior modeled effectively is surprisingly small.

But the good news is that each of us has skills that we can employ to deal with our feelings and our self-talk.

Let me share a simple example with you. My family and I are waiting to find out when our quarantine will end due to the Coronavirus. I’m stressed, worried, and anxious.

Each day, I spend some time in the morning to sit with my thoughts and to either write them down or go through my feelings by talking it through.

I name my emotions and am clear about how I feel and why.

Then I take a moment to imagine my current self going up to my stressed self. I put my arms around me and say, “Ron, it’s going to be okay. I love you, and you’re going to be fine.”

Yes, I know that this might seem strange to do the first few times you do it, but focusing on the positive aspects of your inner self-talk is the key to handling how you feel.

Think of it this way: If you are worried and keep thinking about worrying thoughts, the cycle repeats itself over and over again.

But if you find and then use skills that will help change the cycle, you’ll be better able to handle the stress and anxiety in your life.

For today, start a daily habit of using positive self-talk to bolster your mood and help you deal with your problems.

Like what you’ve read? Be sure to check out my other posts in my Let Go and Be Free blog.