It is important to first define the clause “Talk to Yourself Right!”

What does it mean? /&  How can one put it into practice?

Allah willed this life to depend on material means which require mental effort that in turn generates physical effort. The intended mental effort requires that one should observe his own thoughts and the way he talks to himself. In other words, it needs right self-talk. How? >> One always talks to himself, and this is normal and innate for each sensible person who chooses between alternatives, vacillates between ideas, memories, wishes, feelings and always makes a decision either consciously and unconsciously.

What is important is what one says to himself when he talks to himself per day, month or year.

 Repeated self-talk (internal talk, positive or negative) helps turn it into an action. Such a frequent action becomes a habit. Habits definitely contribute to one’s own fate in life. For example, a thief does not commit his crime unless he thinks about it within himself repeatedly. Then the thought turns into an illegal action. Similarly, succeeding in changing and developing oneself begins with a thought and that thought turns into an action then an everyday habit. This means that any person talks to himself incorrectly (whatever his true aims). One is more likely to unconsciously make wrong mental and physical effort and make use of wrong means that produce undesirable results. In this case one stays at the Café of Depression and Misfortune for a long time and fails to achieve any of his objectives. This could be attributed to the fact that one is always unaware of his thoughts and his self-talk.

Thus the clause ‘Talk to Yourself Correctly’ is a short cut to adjusting one’s self and changing it for the better. It means preparing the mind for making use of all available means and resources around regardless of one’s own circumstances.

The purpose of the same clause above is to avoid extreme thinking, fatal pessimism and unreasoning hopefulness, focus on reasoned optimism- during self-talk- and help one reach the state of mental effort (the origin of physical effort) which qualifies one to make use of the means available and achieve his goals.

The formula of putting into practice “Talk to Yourself Correctly” =

(don’t grieve for the past) + (don’t dislike or reject present) + (don’t be pessimistic about future).

By: Mohammed Salah Elsaka

Quickkaizen.org