Why Positive Affirmations Don't Work

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A lot of people turn to positive affirmation in situations like that, whether we know a round rejection or failure or self esteem. But what you're talking about is actually looking at the reality of let me find things about myself that i really do believe are good and put my attention on those. That's exactly why the positive affirmations don't work. It's because reciting to yourself in the moment, i'm beautiful and wonderful, when your feeling very unbeautiful and unwonderful, is not compelling. In fact, it flies in the face of what your feelings tell you.

Guy Winch, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist, keynote and TED Talk speaker, and author whose books have been translated into twenty languages. In this episode, Eric and Guy discuss his book Emotional First Aid: Healing Rejection, Guilt, Failure, and Other Everyday Hurts.

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In This Interview, Guy Winch and I Discuss Emotional First Aid and …

His book, Emotional First Aid: Healing Rejection, Guilt, Failure, and Other Everyday Hurts
Understanding that we need to tend to our emotional wounds just as we would physical wounds
Building emotional resiliency by addressing these small wounds
How to treat the emotional wound of rejection
Identifying exactly what the hurt feelings are
How the brain registers physical and emotional pain in the same way
Learning to improve low self-esteem
Writing exercises to help deal with rejection and failure
How ruminating can easily become a habit and lead to depression
The dangers of rumination: stewing vs. doing
How rumination is vulnerable to distraction, engage your mind somewhere else
What works and doesn’t work in building self-esteem
Building self-compassion
The detective mindset vs. a harmful and self-critical mindset

Guy Winch Links:

If you enjoyed this conversation with Guy Winch, you might also enjoy these other episodes:

Jonathan Rottenberg on Depression

Tasha Eurich on Growing Self Awareness

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