Improve Your Grit with Self-Talk

By Nike Training

"Imagine if after a really bad game or poor performance, your self-talk was all negative, spiralling you into a pit of shame, criticism and self-loathing", she says. Same goes for when you fall off the wagon in other ways, like missing a workout or eating something you regret. If you tell yourself you're the worst and you're never going to succeed, it's not very motivating to get back at it. Negative self-talk makes you feel so badly about yourself that you don't want to try again, so it ends up pushing you even further from your goals.

In her research, Duckworth has found a two-part strategy for positive self-talk that gets you back on track. The first part is mindful acceptance: Without judgement or blame, just acknowledge the imperfection—for example, saying I slept through yesterday's workout. The second part is self-compassion. For this step, "think of what your mum, your best friend or anyone who loves you might say about your misstep", advises Duckworth. Their narrative would be "compassionate, loving, positive and understanding", while still not letting you off the hook. It also should include a prompt of "what you can learn from it and how you plan to do better next time". Then try saying it to yourself. In practice, that might sound like: I'm disappointed I skipped yesterday's workout, but it's just one time, and I've been great about moving in the direction of my goals. Tomorrow I'm going to set the alarm 10 minutes earlier, so that if I snooze once, I still have time to do the workout. Now that's a gritty person who is going to rebound quickly and get back to business.

"It doesn't come naturally to me, but that's when I choose to be optimistic", she says. "I tell myself, Shalane, this is the moment you're going to work harder and lean into the pain of the workout. What separates the cream of the crop, even with elite athletes, is their mindset and the psychology of how they deal with adversity. I view my mind as a muscle in training".

Changing your self-talk isn't a switch you can just flip overnight. It's a work in progress that becomes a little faster and more natural each time you practise. Soon, you'll be harnessing the power of your inner cheerleader, and seeing how that helps you crush any challenge.

We challenge you to elevate your self-talk so it helps propel you forwards. Consider this micro-change to add a positive mantra to your next workout.

Make It a Habit: The hardest part of a workout is often just showing up. So right before you start your NTC workout, try saying a positive self-talk mantra aloud, like "I already did the hardest part". Then give yourself a mental high-five for motivating and believing in yourself. When times get tough during the workout, go back to that mantra: "I already did the hardest part". It can help build your confidence, power you through the moment and help you finish strong.