Self-Talk

For a pretty long time, I got it wrong thinking about how much my inner conversations were actually shaping up my life. I just thought motivation came from outside stuff— getting disciplined, getting pressure, meeting deadlines, maybe getting some ideas from reading books and watching videos. What I really started realizing was that under every move I made (or tried not to make) was a kinda quiet, steady stream of thoughts helping me get my act together. Those thoughts weren’t usually very encouraging self-talk. They were kind of critical, dismissive, and sometimes really tough. I talked to myself in ways I wouldn’t normally talk to a friend— calling myself lazy if I struggled, feeling weak when I got tired, and getting anxious when things seemed stuck. After a while, this inner negativity just kind of sucked away my motivation. Even when chances looked good, my inner voice figured out ways to talk me out of giving it a shot. Really, the big challenge wasn’t that I thought I couldn’t do it– it was the way I talked to myself.