Do you Talk to yourself? You might just be a Genius.

 “Where did I see that man?”

 “Should I invite Rhea to the party tonight?”

“I wonder these curtains match the new upholstery? Guess I should just grab a sample before buying the whole lot.”

This is how any two individuals talk, nothing strange. What if you discovered that these are not conversations between two different people, but a person talking to her own self?

That’s right. Some people talk to themselves. In the shower or while driving, they tend to rehearse conversations and say things aloud when no one is around. Young children do it more often while some people can’t quit the habit as they grow up. This is not something to be embarrassed by or think of you as crazy. In fact, there is profound research that actually says that people who talk to themselves are way smarter than a regular person.

Why talking to yourself is good for you?

Talking to yourself is a good sign if your mental condition is sound. If you are talking to the other voice in your mind that is still you but with a different attitude, it shows that you have a genius mind striving to find answers.

Here are some benefits of talking to your own self:

·         Improves memory

The results of an experimental psychology research state that talking to yourself improves your ability to process visual information.  For instance, you are more likely to locate a file in your computer accurately by saying out the name of that file than the other person who prefers to remain silent while searching the file. The same happens with the chess players who memorize the locations of the board pieces and plan possible moves of themselves and their opponent. Since there is a great deal of visual information to be memorized, talking to themselves aids the players to remember the essential details.

Just like a computer, everybody has long-term memory (storage) and short-term (current processing) memory. By talking to yourself, you can actually activate your memory and remember things better. In addition, when you say things out loud to yourself, you may possibly realize that you do retain information in the future too. For instance, students studying for tests claim that talking to themselves helps them to remember points more clearly.

·         Regulates emotions

Talking to yourself allows you to manage your emotions better. Instead of getting infuriated when something doesn’t work out as desired, you can talk through the reasons why it didn’t go your way and find out possible solutions too. You may find yourself saying, “This is not what I wanted, but that’s okay. Maybe I should try this instead.”

People claim that talking to themselves helps them to maintain a positive attitude. Some bad memories or past experiences can program negative outlook into us and we might give up hope consequently. Self-talk can help people to overcome their negative attitude and prepare themselves to adopt a positive mental state.

Some bitter experiences can leave bad memories and unexpressed emotions. If you talk to yourself, you can train your brain to turn negative emotions into positive thoughts. Positive thinkers have a more fruitful and pleasurable life.

·         Improves focus

Talking to your self is known to improve concentration. It helps you to crack down on things unmistakably. It has become extremely important for people to multitask in today’s modern lives. Not only you are able to multi-task, you can perform different tasks with more focus for a longer period of time by talking to yourself.  

The genius minds can self-talk and perform everything that they need to do at a better pace and achieve desired results. Self-talk allows you to direct your attention to things that should be done. Your targets while carrying out a task become clearer when you talk to yourself. By concentrating on the sound of your voice, you can mentally block the disturbances around you.

Saying things aloud to yourself can improve agility as more than one of your senses is activated. You could be watching one thing and thinking about some other thing. Your auditory senses come into play as you talk to yourself. This stimulates more than one area of your brain. When you think and talk to yourself at the same time, your brain is more active and will keep you focused on the task at hand. It is very common in children; they recite something to themselves as they go about doing their tasks.

·         Makes you a better decision-maker

When you are finding it difficult to make a decision or when you need to crack a problem, you dwell on it a lot. The self-talkers observe that they can interpret the advantages and disadvantages and work out better solutions by talking out loud. Instead of calling on a friend to help you, you can be your best friend, guide your thoughts and encourage yourself to work some way out.

If you are furious about something, lashing it out right there to yourself can prevent you from making impulsive decisions. Getting that load off your chest will calm your anger and allow you take any action with a cooler mind.

It is motivating to realize that you can rely on yourself for support. This will boost your self-esteem. Giving positive feedback through self-talk will help you feel proud of your decisions.

So, next time you are talking back to yourself, just tell yourself that you are a genius! Of course, it might seem weird if you have company! You can indulge in self-talk when no one is around to disturb you train of thoughts or you need to think clearly at that very moment.  Talking to yourself doesn’t imply that you are going mad. In fact, it shows that your brain is working in a magnificent manner by allowing speech to process your information. If you have the ability to talk to yourself, feel proud of it. After all, not everyone is a born genius like you.