Looking on the internet deeply has found these results:

i told myself is the most popular phrase on the web.

i said to myself 1264,000 results on the web	i told myself 1531,000 results on the web More popular!
Some examples and use cases from the internet:	Some examples and use cases from the internet:
So, I Said To Myself, �Self, What Do I Really Sound Like?� By Debra Vey Voda I said to myself, "Go ahead, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good." But it turned out to be futile. International Standard Version I told myself, "I will test�... Sep 19, 2012 ... It's used as a stylistic variation. It has a feel of someone having a conversation with himself. "So I said to myself, 'Self, what do you think about�... Nov 23, 2005 ... One tipster suggests that Bill Cosby used So I said to myself, "Self..." in a standup routine captured on one of his celebrated live albums from the�... Hamilton on Sep 25, 2014 Comments Off�...	It doesn't look like this phrase is very popular! The search could not find any examples on the internet.

i said to myself

1264,000 results on the web

i told myself

1531,000 results on the web

More popular!

So, I Said To Myself, �Self, What Do I Really Sound Like?� By Debra Vey Voda
I said to myself, "Go ahead, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good." But it turned out to be futile. International Standard Version I told myself, "I will test�...
Sep 19, 2012 ... It's used as a stylistic variation. It has a feel of someone having a conversation with himself. "So I said to myself, 'Self, what do you think about�...
Nov 23, 2005 ... One tipster suggests that Bill Cosby used So I said to myself, "Self..." in a standup routine captured on one of his celebrated live albums from the�...
Hamilton on Sep 25, 2014 Comments Off�...

It doesn't look like this phrase is very popular! The search could not find any examples on the internet.