If you ever felt stuck in a stressful situation, it’s likely the voice in your head was working against you and not with you. Fortunately, you can use this worksheet as a tool to harness your self-talk to enhance performance in stressful situations. Whether it’s a mission, test, or any challenge, goal-directed self-talk can help you improve performance, stay focused, regulate emotions, and increase your confidence!
In the preparation phase of the worksheet, you’ll identify a stressful situation, your target outcome, and those emotions, energy levels, and behaviors needed to meet your goal. Think of this as the blueprint for your potential success. Next, the execution phase aims to help you identify triggers that could throw you off your game and self-talk strategies you could use to get back to optimal focus and performance in real time. If you apply these strategies, debrief with the questions at the end of the worksheet to help you prepare even better for future stressors.
Self-talk isn’t a one-size-fits-all tool. Try out different self-talk strategies until you come up with your own personal formula to harness the voice in your head. With time and dedicated practice, you may notice yourself getting closer to your goals and a steady improvement in your confidence. Use more HPRC resources on self-talk to enhance performance.
Published on: July 17, 2024
Kross, E., Bruehlman-Senecal, E., Park, J., Burson, A., Dougherty, A., Shablack, H., Bremner, R., Moser, J., & Ayduk, O. (2014). Self-talk as a regulatory mechanism: How you do it matters. J Pers Soc Psychol, 106(2), 304–324. doi: 10.1037/a0035173
Leopold, S. S. (2022). A conversation with ... Ethan Kross PhD, the psychologist who knows what we should say when we talk to ourselves. Clin Orthop Relat Res, 480(11), 2067–2070. doi: 10.1097/CORR.0000000000002411