Yesterday, 29-year-old Rachel Yarnoff decided to make a bold change to her way of thinking. When she walked into a job interview, she made it a point to scold herself for thinking negative thoughts.
“Negative self-talk won’t get you anywhere,” Rachel reportedly whispered to herself bitterly. “Don’t be so fucking pessimistic.”
Rachel, a self-described “dummy,” often criticizes herself for being critical of herself. She hates that she’s mean to herself for not being able to cook well and that she has no follow through when it comes to craft projects.
“I can be so fucking mean to myself,” says Rachel. “It’s like, ‘Rachel, you suck, cut it out!’”
Rachel’s friends have noticed that she isn’t very kind to herself.
“She realized she’d gained six pounds and was getting upset about it, then started yelling at herself for giving herself a hard time for the weight gain,” says Madison Chulock, Rachel’s good friend. “It’s not helpful to be doubly mad at yourself.”
When her friends confronted her about her negative self-talk about her negative self-talk, Rachel told them she was aware of the problem and was mad at herself about it.
“Negative self-talk about your negative self-talk won’t get you anywhere, dumbass,’” Rachel shouted at herself angrily.
“We’re not sure how to help her at this point, because we’re worried she’ll just keep getting mad at herself on top of already being mad at herself,” says Chulock. “Hopefully soon she’ll learn to move past the negativity.”
Though Rachel received an email offering her the job she interviewed for, she was unable to break her pattern.
“Well I’m gonna fuck this up,” says Rachel. “Ugh, I shouldn’t think that way! I’m a stupid monster!!”
