My 10-year old son, Evan, was struggling with his story writing assignment, even though he’s so creative and loves to read. Everything he was saying about the project was negative. It was heartbreaking to hear him talk about himself like this. Plus, I know he can do it, so it’s confusing.

I wrote these post-its for him… visual pep talks… thought bubbles meant to influence his perspective on himself and the assignment.

I like affirmations because they help me shift the ugly to the good. He told me “why do I want to convince myself something that I don’t believe?” (he is ever the questioner!).

“But, dude, thoughts are sooooooo powerful!!!” I told him.

Just imagine if all these post-its really did say something crappy:
You will never finish this assignment.
You’re going to get a bad grade.
It’s not creative enough.
Other students had more pages.

Why does the negative have to stick so much more? Why is it harder to believe in the power of awesome? Why do we believe that we’re gonna stink at something?

I fight for positivity in my mind every. single. day. Because if you took my thought bubbles and put them on post-it notes, I’d want to come away with a smile and confidence.

What do your post-it thought bubbles say? Cause it really does matter…

and that’s your *healthy* dose of reality!