There's a conversation happening inside your mind
The quiet voice that talks you through a session, a meeting, or a moment of doubt. Sometimes it pushes. Sometimes it criticises. Either way, it shapes how you perform. How you progress. How you stagnate
And science says it also shapes how your brain works.
A 2021 study by Kim and colleagues (PMID: 34290300) found that self-talk, whether positive or negative, changes how brain networks communicate .
Positive self-talk strengthens the connections between areas that drive motivation, focus, and self-control. Negative self-talk weakens them.
In short, the words you say to yourself can rewire your brain. So stop being a di to yourself.
Positive self-talk isn’t about empty optimism. It’s about respect. It's about building a belief system. It’s a reminder that belief, focus, and self-awareness grow first from the way we speak to ourselves. Then from what we do. The study showed that people who used self-respect phrases didn’t just feel better, they performed better too.
Criticism might still drive you for a while, but it’s like running on fumes. It creates tension instead of flow, stress instead of focus.
Over time, that pattern wears you down and becomes an impediment to growth.
Treat your inner voice like your best friend.
Like your grandma.
Like the 8 year old version of you.
Be kind. Challenge it, don’t let it tear you apart.
Next time you’re struggling in a session, or at work, or doubting yourself, step back (metaphorically) and listen to your own commentary.
Is it helping you or holding you back? Serving you, or sabotaging?
Your brain doesn’t know the difference between real and rehearsed, it believes what you repeat.
So speak to yourself like someone you love and care for.
Because your brain is listening & it's taking notes.
Food for thought. #clever
Lachie