While it’s impossible always to be happy, you can boost your happiness by letting go of negative self-talk. This means refraining from criticizing yourself and being overly harsh. Do you often blame yourself for not being intelligent, creative, or compassionate enough? Chances are, you remember some recent instances where your self-talk was unhelpful and unkind. But changing how you speak to yourself can significantly improve your well-being.

When you continuously reinforce negative thinking, it adversely affects various aspects of your life, such as productivity, relationships, work, and play. It infiltrates deep within and creates feelings of inadequacy, sadness, and doubt. It’s not a pleasant place to be in.

However, you can change your day-to-day experience and mood by reframing your thoughts with a different dialogue. Have you considered asking yourself a question that could help you let go of negative thinking?

I recently came across the book Essentialism by Greg McKeown, and I strongly recommend reading it. It’s packed with valuable insights, but today, I’ll focus on one concept he shared in the chapter about progress. A powerful question he proposed for starting a meeting is,

“What has gone right since we last met?”

The question focuses your mind on the positive. It encourages thoughts of gratitude, progress, success, joy, anticipation, and pride. It has the added benefit of removing negative thoughts because it asks for the ‘good stuff’ to surface instead.

Does it mean that nothing negative happened? Of course not. But it helps you describe the internal conversation with a positivity bias.

As McKeown suggests, asking, “What has gone right since we last met?” is an excellent way to start a meeting. However, I’m sharing a modified version of this question to help you reduce negative self-talk. Instead, try asking,

What went right today? 

The possibilities are endless. Maybe you . . .

• Donated a bag of clothes

• Shredded old bank statements

• Edited your pile of incoming mail

• Gave a new presentation

• Helped virtual organizing clients with their organizing goals

• Had a soulful conversation with a dear friend

• Decluttered your bedroom

• Accomplished your top priority

• Received registrations for upcoming motivation workshop

• Got a great night’s sleep

• Picked and ate lettuce from the tiny garden

• Registered for a conference on challenging disorganization

• Made time to smell and appreciate the beautiful spring blooms

Happiness comes in many forms, but it starts with having a positive mindset and letting go of negativity. How do you overcome negative self-talk and cultivate happiness in your life? What went right today? I would love to hear your thoughts and invite you to join the conversation.