Internal Advertising

Sometimes I’ve got an attitude about life. I can’t help it. I fall squarely into Gen X so I’m officially entitled to being apathetic, disgruntled, annoyed, and depressed by life on at least a weekly basis – right? I do my fair share of wallowing, trust, but then it gets old. Life just isn’t as fun when I’m bummed. But once the mood hits it’s not that easy to change. That law of inertia is a tricky one. So I’ve developed a method for myself that I call Internal Advertising. Clearly I didn’t develop the concept - but I came up with the name and, for me, this spin makes all the difference. Rather than “positive affirmation” it’s Internal Advertising. Meaning rather than write, “I am a beautiful, creative spirit manifesting on my journey” across the bathroom mirror in red lipstick, I come up with a catchy advertising slogan that speaks to my current plight instead. It’s individualized cognitive therapy, it’s intra-personal marketing, and it’s FREE!

My current Internal Advertising campaign is I’m OK, It’s OK.


I’m OK, It’s OK has a simple premise that I’ve found to be very effective. The thought campaign can be used to decrease stress levels & regain perspective by tapping into a fundamental truth: that OK is a perfectly attainable and livable mental state. Just OK – not great, fantastic, unbelievable, or stupendous but OK. I know we hear all this hype about how being positive, radiant, and motivated is the only healthy way to be, but I believe that’s just not always a realistic goal. There are many periods where OK is a perfectly good standard. Certainly it has a leg up on some other less desirable states of being.

Internal Advertising is a fabulous way to reverse the negative impact of an overly saturated, utterly hypnotic, ridiculously superficial consumer culture by appropriating the tools of the devil and putting it to good use: personal growth. There’s a Jewish saying: you are where your thoughts are – Internal Advertising is like creating a personal shortcut to the parts of your mind you’d rather be inhabiting.