“Ugh why do I always do that?? I’m so stupid.”

Maybe you forgot your keys at home. Maybe you sent an email to the wrong person. Maybe you spelled "their" wrong in your last text. You try and laugh it off and correct whatever was wrong. You might even spend another five minutes thinking about it or worrying about it. “What is wrong with me lately?” Or maybe you reach out to someone else and apologize “I’m sorry, I’m all over the place”.

We don’t realize it but we can say horribly mean things to ourselves every day over the tiniest of errors…as if we were the stars in our own personal Squid Game and we’re not allowed to make any mistakes. The punishment we deliver ourselves is harsh judgement, contempt and even ridicule.

These are the dangerous patterns of our negative self-talk. It may seem harmless, but the things we say to ourself count as much, if not more, than the things others say to us. Our thoughts affect how we feel about ourselves and the world around us, they affect how we interact with others and how we perform. Frequently we speak to ourselves in tones we wouldn't use with our worst enemy.

Are you being your own worst bully?