Dealing with negative self talk
Create your own hype doc
Hi friends,
If you didn’t know, May is Mental Health Awareness month. So I was inspired to write this piece about negative self talk, because when it is out of control it can easily lead to or exacerbate poor mental health.
Negative self talk, otherwise described as being your inner critic or that voice of doubt is something that most people experience to a certain extent. Having that self judging voice is pretty normal and can be useful, but when it is constant and extreme it can do a lot of harm to your mental health.
I’ve actively worked on quieting down my inner critic and have seen a lot of progress over time. What I’ve found through working through this is that my negative self talk uses what I’m immediately experiencing or feeling as ‘evidence’ to say harsh and overgeneralised statements about my character. For example, when I would not know something in a particular moment I would use that as justification to say: “I’m so stupid..why do I not know this.” Or if I failed to get something done, I would say “I’m so lazy and unproductive all the time. Why would anyone trust you with this?”
During these times, I find that pointing out more objective ‘evidence’ to counteract that statement helps me snap out of it and realise that what I’m saying is not reasonable at all. So here is where having a hype doc or a good feedback log comes into play.
What is a hype doc?
A hype document or good feedback log is a document or space where you save and note down any positive feedback you’ve gotten and any accomplishments you have. You can do this more generally, noting down any and all positive things you are as a person. Or you can do it for specific roles or projects that your inner critic gives you a lot of grief about. An example would be having a Career hype doc, which is what ADPlist defines as:
A live document designed to give you a confidence boost by acknowledging your successes. It’s also a way of keeping receipts for all your hard work and contributions that may not get recognized by other folks on your team, which is essential when you’re vying for a promotion or working on your annual performance review.
A Career hype doc is particular useful for anyone struggling with work related anxiety and stress. It can also help with imposter syndrome - feeling like you aren't as capable as others think and fear you would be exposed as a fraud.
I personally have a hype doc for my newsletter and content creation in general. With personal projects, I find that I give myself the most critical comments because it “motivates” me to actually carve out time for it. It may work in the short term, but I’d rather be fuelled with joy and satisfaction in the long term.
Why should you create one?
There are many reasons why you should make a hype doc:
It can bring you out of a dark place or negative spiral
It can train you to find the positives rather than focusing on the negatives
It can remind you why you started doing what you are doing in the first place
It can be very useful when reflecting upon your achievements
It is super easy to get started
If these reasons are not enough to convince maybe this will:
You are the only person with complete insight into everything you do. You are the person who can most accurately and effectively hype yourself.
How do you create one?
It is actually super simple. You can choose whatever format is easiest for you. It may be a Google doc, a Notion page, or a Excel sheet. Or like me you can just use the Notes app. It just needs to be easily accessible for when you need to quickly capture positive feedback. I would also highly recommend adding screenshots/images/videos to showcase your achievements and feedback.
Here is the beginning of my hype doc:
Anyways, I hope this inspired you to think about being your own hype person. Give this post a Like if you enjoyed it!
This week’s collection
🧠Event: Mental Health Awareness Month
In light of Mental Health Awareness month, I just wanted to remind everyone that your mental health is just as important as your physical health. If you are not feeling like yourself at the moment, please know that you are not alone and things will get better! There is always hope and there is always someone to turn to.
For HK friends, here is a very comprehensive guide for all things mental health created by MindHK.
💵TV Show: King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch
A crazy and eye-opening Netflix show about Goldin.co - a company that consigns collectibles (eg: sports memorabilia, pop culture items, Pokemon cards) and auctions them off online. It was fascinating to see how much these collectibles get sold for and how the world of consignments and auctions work. A highly binge-able series!
🌈Newsletter/Website: Wondermind
An absolute gem of a website and newsletter I found recently is Wondermind. It has a lot of great mental health content and the design of the website is so fun and cute. I’ve been looking forward to reading their newsletters in my inbox!
In case you missed it: I wrote about how you can do more of what matters to you everyday.
A question for you!
What is one nice thing that someone has said to you recently?
Always open to learning more and hearing from you 😊
If you enjoyed reading this piece, share it with someone you think would enjoy it too 😊
Thanks for reading!
Stay inspired,
Viv