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#HURDLEMOMENT: These Few Words Can Change Your Life · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Hey, hurdlers, Emily Abadi. Here you are listening to another
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: hurdle moment from Hurdle, a podcast that talks to everyone
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: from top CEOs to entrepreneurs and athletes about how they
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: got through tough times hurdles of sorts by leaning into wellness. Today,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: for a hurdle moment, I'm talking about how you talk
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  Speaker 1: to yourself is super important. I chatted about this in
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  Speaker 1: a Hurdle Moment a few weeks back on eliminating negative
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  Speaker 1: self talk, and today I'm taking it one step further
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  Speaker 1: to rap about the power of mantras. I guarantee you,
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  Speaker 1: if you ask anyone you consider successful what theirs is,
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  Speaker 1: they can likely ramble off a few and that's because, shocker,
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  Speaker 1: they work. And so today I'm gonna be serving up
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  Speaker 1: five smart strategies for picking your go to mantra and
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  Speaker 1: talk about how you can make it extra effective for
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  Speaker 1: even the toughest of times, like a first date or
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  Speaker 1: a presentation or mile twenty five point eight of a marathon.
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  Speaker 1: You get the idea. I posted a special graphic on
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: the Hurdle podcast Instagram today to go along with this,
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  Speaker 1: So do me a solid if you like what you're
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  Speaker 1: listening to fill it out, post it on your feed
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  Speaker 1: or your story, and let's spread just a little bit
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  Speaker 1: of positivity around you. Yeah at Emily a body, Email
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  Speaker 1: me Emily at hurdle dot us. Let's get to this
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: week's hurdle moment. A subset of self talk, a mantra
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  Speaker 1: is defined as a single word or short statement repeated
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  Speaker 1: frequently to help us with things like focus and motivation.
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  Speaker 1: Now I have a few that I use regularly in
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  Speaker 1: different scenarios. There's the all it takes is all you've got.
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  Speaker 1: You may have noticed that before my social media bios,
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  Speaker 1: and that's just something I remind myself when I'm chugging
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  Speaker 1: along and doing my best. Another favorite, you didn't come
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  Speaker 1: this far to only come this far, which came in
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  Speaker 1: particularly handy in the twenty eight Team Bosston Marathon. And
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: for the nights when I feel discouraged and I'm sitting
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  Speaker 1: in my living room chugging away on my laptop, I
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  Speaker 1: look to the right and I see the sign that says,
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  Speaker 1: remember when you wanted what you have now. All three
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  Speaker 1: of these mantras have similarities, and we'll get to why
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  Speaker 1: those similarities are important in just a second before we
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  Speaker 1: do a quick note that there's a lot of research
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  Speaker 1: to back up why mantras are effective for the athletes
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  Speaker 1: in the house. Some say that motivational self talk can
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  Speaker 1: reduce how hard we feel like we're working and increase endurance,
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  Speaker 1: which good news can give you a look up on
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  Speaker 1: the competition in today's hurdle moment. I'm laying down some
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  Speaker 1: guidelines for making smarter mantras because the language you use
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  Speaker 1: in that short pep talk can make all the difference.
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  Speaker 1: First up, swap out the word I for the word you.
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  Speaker 1: I once talk to a psychologist who told me that
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  Speaker 1: using the word I can stress you out instead of
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  Speaker 1: helping you regulate how you feel. So use and make
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  Speaker 1: a mantra. You can do it more effectively by talking
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  Speaker 1: to yourself like you are someone else. Then take it
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  Speaker 1: a step further by bringing someone you care about into
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  Speaker 1: the picture. So imagine that they're the person that's saying
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  Speaker 1: these special words to you. For example, last week, when
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  Speaker 1: I was running the Brooklyn Mile, I heard my friends
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  Speaker 1: cheering for me about three quarters of the way through,
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  Speaker 1: saying things like you got this, and good job, Emily,
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  Speaker 1: and you can do it. And in the moment that
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  Speaker 1: pushed me harder, faster, and farther. So even if they're
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  Speaker 1: not around, I can imagine the people I care about
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  Speaker 1: motivating me to do better saying those positive words to me,
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  Speaker 1: pushing me just a little bit further. Next up, say
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  Speaker 1: it out loud, whether or not you consider yourself an
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  Speaker 1: audio learner, When we hear things that are positive reinforcement,
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  Speaker 1: we feel positive. So maybe don't yell it from the
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  Speaker 1: top of your lungs when you're sitting at shakeshack with
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  Speaker 1: a friend, but instead you can just, you know, say
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  Speaker 1: casually under your breath. Trust me, the weird stairs are
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  Speaker 1: definitely worth it. Tip number three, put that mantra everywhere.
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  Speaker 1: Like I said before, I've got mantras all over my apartment,
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  Speaker 1: in my living room, I've got post its on my
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  Speaker 1: bathroom mirror. Once you settle on what your go to
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  Speaker 1: phrases are, the best thing you can do is surround
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  Speaker 1: yourself with them. I know that this is something that
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  Speaker 1: Peloton's Robin Rizon and I talked a lot about in
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  Speaker 1: her episode of Hurdle. This can be especially helpful in
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  Speaker 1: the weeks and days leading up to something like a
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  Speaker 1: big meeting or a race or something you really care
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  Speaker 1: about other places. You can put this mantra on your
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  Speaker 1: phone's home screen, you can share it on social media.
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  Speaker 1: You can write it on a post it yourself, stick
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  Speaker 1: it to the front door so you see it every
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  Speaker 1: single day before you walk out. The more you say
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  Speaker 1: these positive words to yourself, the more empowered you will feel.
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  Speaker 1: Next up, edit yourself. I can't even front on this.
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  Speaker 1: I definitely have a for cursing. It's something that I'm
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  Speaker 1: trying to be just a little bit more conscious of now.
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  Speaker 1: The thing is, though, is that I always say that
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  Speaker 1: when you use an explative it's because you're super passionate.
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  Speaker 1: The thing with dropping an F bomb, though in mantras
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  Speaker 1: is that because profanity can have a negative connotation, it
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  Speaker 1: could do more harm than good if you're really trying
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  Speaker 1: to boost yourself up. Not all people react well to
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  Speaker 1: that kind of talk, So be aware of how these
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  Speaker 1: words make you feel, especially if you're trying to say
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  Speaker 1: them to yourself on rebeat. It can be a really
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  Speaker 1: powerful tactic for some maybe for the people that feel
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  Speaker 1: like it represents passion, like me, But an expert told
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  Speaker 1: me once that some people might be just a little
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  Speaker 1: bit better off avoiding obscenities altogether. And my last mantra
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  Speaker 1: making tip match your mantra to different moments. So, as
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  Speaker 1: I mentioned before, I lean into my go to mantras
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  Speaker 1: at different times. I have one that I use for
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  Speaker 1: when I'm running and another one I'm walking into a
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  Speaker 1: big business meeting. And that's because in those instances, when
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  Speaker 1: I think about those big words, it pushes me to
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  Speaker 1: be better. When I'm sprinting down Kendamnue and I'm saying
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  Speaker 1: to myself, you didn't come this far to only come
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  Speaker 1: this far in that moment, those words they make me
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  Speaker 1: think about running. They make me think about what I'm
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  Speaker 1: capable of, and that is truly special. That is why
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  Speaker 1: those words for me are so effective. And that's it
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  Speaker 1: for now. I'm interested to know what are your go
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  Speaker 1: to mantras. Are you reevaluating what you've been using? Have
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  Speaker 1: you been doing anything quote unquote wrong? Like I said,
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  Speaker 1: head on over to the hurdle page, let me know
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  Speaker 1: what you're saying to yourself. And uh, let's put some
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  Speaker 1: good vibes into the world today. I think it's safe
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  Speaker 1: to say that we could all use them every now
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  Speaker 1: and again. Another hurdle conquered catch you guys, next time.