I think you and I mean the same thing – people can and should believe their own thoughts – and I’d even say usually people should.

But sometimes you shouldn’t. When shouldn’t you believe your thoughts? When they’re not useful and not productive. For example, it could actually be productive to be sad sometimes – that may be in the course of letting go of something. On the other hand, it’s often not productive for a person to berate himself unfoundedly. So I’m not saying we should drop every negative thought we have – no, some negative thoughts move us forward or are useful.

It’s at those times of unproductive or useless thoughts that I think we should say, “Hey, maybe that thought’s not accurate or not true, even though it came from me.” And like you, I believe in positive self-talk too although sometimes it’s easier in theory than in practice in the heat of the moment.

You guys, my friend just emailed me something so smart – I’m so glad she thought of it. She said that she sat down and wrote a letter to herself – just like that, just a letter as if she were writing it to herself as a good friend. Such a good idea.

I bet in the future, this will become a Positive Psychology intervention – the exercise of writing a letter to yourself as if you were writing to your best friend!