You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day.

I'm your host, Elise Hugh. We all have it, that inner voice in our mind that is always present.

That voice is a powerful tool for self-reflection and planning, but it can also trap you in negative thought loops or chatter,

as psychologist and neuroscientist Ethan Cross calls it.

We use our inner voice to make sense of this messy world that we often live in.

This is a remarkable tool.

The problem is it is a tool that often jams up on us when we need it most.

In this archive talk from 2024, Ethan shares tips for quieting the less helpful aspects of the voice inside your head,

as well as how to harness that chatter in order to overcome doubt, enhance your focus, and transform your well-being.

We don't want to get rid of that tool. What we want to figure out is how to harness it.

And this is where the really, really good news comes into play.

That's coming up right after a short break from our sponsors. And now our TED Talk of the Day.

So today what I want to do is talk to you about the most important conversations you have each day, the conversations you have with yourselves.

My name is Ethan Cross. I'm the director of the Emotion Self-control Lab

at the University of Michigan.

And for the past 25 years,

I've been studying how people can manage their emotions.

And one of the things that I've learned during that time,

is I'm managing my emotions right now.

One of the things that I've learned during that time is that a key to managing

one's emotions effectively involves understanding how to harness this mysterious force called the

voices inside our head. Now I realize some of you may be asking yourself right now, what is a purported serious scientist doing,

...