The Stories We Tell Ourselves

The Stories We Tell Ourselves

 “When God has given you wings, why then do you crawl?” Rumi

The Stories Beneath Our Self-Talk

“I’m not disciplined.”
“I can’t jog for 30 minutes.”
“I’m not a good father.”
“I’m not cut out for pain.”
“I’ll never build a successful business.”

These aren’t just words, they’re stories.
Stories we repeat to others, and more dangerously, to ourselves.
Stories that quietly shape how we think, act, and live.

But the truth:
Every sentence you repeat becomes a seed planted in your subconscious.
And over time, those seeds grow into beliefs, beliefs that either limit you or liberate you.

The Origin of Disempowering Beliefs

What’s the evidence behind these self-limiting beliefs?
Who engraved them into your mind so deeply that you started to believe them?

A friend of mine always says, “Whatever business I start ends in loss.”
Why? Because his last four businesses failed.
He uses his past as proof to predict his future, and that’s exactly why he keeps losing.
His problem isn’t strategy; it’s storytelling.

The World’s Greatest Failures (and Their Stories)

History is filled with people who failed countless times and still succeeded:

• Thomas Edison failed over 10,000 times before inventing the light bulb.
• Henry Ford’s engineers failed hundreds of times before building the first V8 engine.
• K. Rowling was rejected by 12 publishers before her first Harry Potter book was accepted.
• Jack Ma failed for over 10 years before founding Alibaba.

What did they all have in common? Perseverance, that can only be possible with empowering stories

The Stories They Told Themselves

Do you think their inner dialogue sounded like this?

• “I’m not enough.”
• “The economy is bad.”
• “It’s not my time.”
• “I’ll never make it.”

Of course not.

Their stories were the opposite:

• “I’m enough.”
• “I’ll make it, no matter how long it takes.”
• “Nothing can stop me.”
• “I’m becoming the best my generation has produced.”

These empowering stories rewired their minds.
Because our brain doesn’t distinguish between reality or not, it responds to whatever you feed it.

If you tell it you’re capable, it finds a way.
If you tell it you’re broken, it proves you right.

The Power of Mental Rewriting

We all have the same blood, bones, and potential as Edison, Ford, Rowling, and Ma.
The difference lies in mental stories, what we choose to repeat internally.

Your mind is the most powerful tool you’ll ever own.
Feed it empowering stories, and it responds in kind.
Feed it defeat, and it will live defeated.

My Own Story, The Africa Chapter

Years ago, I partnered with a client to start a business in Africa.
At that time, my self-talk sounded like this:

“I can’t do this without my partner.”
“He knows Africa; I don’t.”
“I live in Dubai, I’ll never adjust there.”

But when the partnership fell apart, I had no choice but to go alone.

And that’s when my internal story changed.
I told myself:

“I can handle this.

I’ll figure it out.”

The result?
I ran a successful business in Ghana for 12 years, becoming one of the country’s leading importers, even receiving an award from Maersk Line.

The lesson?
When your story changes, so does your reality.

Rewriting the Narrative

You can choose to change your story today, even now.

• “I’m not enough” → “I’m improving every day.”
• “I can’t do business” → “This time, I’m applying what I’ve learned.”
• “I lost four businesses” → “Those were lessons, my fifth will be my success.”

The shift begins when you change your story.
That new story transforms your thinking, which reshapes your behavior, which changes your results.

The Self-Talk of Champions

Athletes, warriors, and top performers constantly rewrite their inner stories.
They use self-talk to rewire their brains for victory.

I remember UFC fighter Israel Adesanya, bleeding and gasping for air mid-fight, saying:

“You can kill me, but you will never defeat me.”

That’s the self-talk of A winner. A fighter. A believer. A warrior

So ask yourself:

What kind of stories do you tell yourself?
Are they empowering you or limiting you?

Reflection

• What’s one story you’ve been repeating that no longer serves you?
• What new story could replace it today?
• Who would you become if you started believing that story fully?

Summary

• The stories you tell yourself shape your beliefs and behaviors.
• Your brain reacts to what you feed it belief or limitation.
• Change your story → change your mindset → change your results.
• Empowering self-talk builds perseverance and rewires your mind for success.

CTA Your Next Step

Rewrite one story about yourself today.
Replace doubt with direction, fear with faith, and weakness with growth.
You don’t need perfect words just a truer story.

RiseAbove with Belief.