Coaching practices for Self Talk Strategies on a Budget

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Self Talk Strategies on a Budget, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

  • I already know the exact situations that throw me
  • I want to fix what I say to myself when I compete, but if I’m honest I can’t even reliably remember what that was
  • When a problem gets hard my mind just goes quiet and blank and I sort of stall out staring at it
  • In the moment my mind goes blank and the only voice in my head is “you can’t handle this”
  • The second I’m hurting, the voice in my head turns cold and contemptuous and piles on

Practices that may help

  1. Prepare "if-then" self-talk scripts for predictable pressure moments
    Pre-script your self-talk response to the specific situations most likely to derail you.
    Self-Talk Strategies, Made Practical
  2. Monitor your self-talk patterns to identify what to change
    Track what you actually say to yourself during and after performance before trying to change it.
    Self-Talk Strategies, Made Practical
  3. Use self-directed speech to regulate problem-solving
    Talk yourself through a hard task aloud; private speech is an internalized coaching voice.
    Zone of Proximal Development: Learning at Your Real Edge
  4. Self-Talk Strategies, Made Practical
    Self-talk — the internal or external commentary we generate before and during performance — reliably affects performance outcomes, according to meta-analyses by Hatzigeorgiadis and colleagues. Instructional self-talk improves fine motor skill; motivational self-talk improves power and endurance tasks. The specific content and function of the self-talk matter more than whether it is positive or negative.
  5. Prepare coping self-talk in advance
    Script what you will say to yourself at the trigger, during the peak, and afterward — before you need it.
    Stress Inoculation Training
  6. Warm self-talk
    Speak to yourself in distress the way you would speak to a struggling friend — warmly, honestly, and without blame.
    Self-Soothing, Made Practical
  7. Use verbal self-instruction to initiate
    Say out loud — or in writing — the exact action you are about to do before you do it.
    Task Initiation: Overcoming the Start Problem
  8. Confess when you are prepared
    If you tell people you prepared well, failure costs more — so you prepare more.
    Self-Handicapping: Recognizing and Stopping the Excuse Setup
  9. Replace critic monologue with compassionate self-talk
    Speak to yourself the way you would speak to a close friend in the same situation.
    Working With Your Inner Critic
  10. Use "we" language to describe your struggles
    Shift from "I always fail at this" to "this is something a lot of us find hard."
    Common Humanity, Made Practical

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