Jack Canfield teaches how to turn your inner critic into an inner coach by noticing negative self-talk and replacing it with empowering thoughts. He shares an anecdote about an ultra-triathlete and walks through practical steps: observe your thoughts, reframe the stories that protected you, and convert "I can't" statements into "I can."
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How many times have you told yourself, I can't do it or that's impossible this week. Now, if you're like most people, the number is probably higher than you'd like to admit. All of us have a little voice inside us that speaks from a place of fear and self doubt and cautions us against taking a risk for fear that we might fail. But if you listen to that voice, it will hold you back from becoming all that you can be and creating a life that truly fulfills you. So today I'd like to share my top tips on how to overcome self doubt and unlock your full potential to achieve anything you can imagine. Not too long ago I was taking part in a mastermind summit and someone on the call was talking about an amazing athlete, I forget his name right now, who competes and wins in ultra triathlons. Now these are events where people do two triathlons back to back. Think about that, doing a full triathlon and then the next day get up and do it all over again. Really crazy high level endurance competition. So it was at the end of one of these events and they were interviewing him. When they asked him how he was able to push himself so hard and win so often, what he said was, I stopped listening to my mind and I started talking to my mind. You see, your mind is going to tell you things like, we're not going to make it. This isn't going to work out. Or in the case of a triathlon, my body just can't do this anymore. My legs and my heart's going to go. This is not humanly possible. Who am I kidding? We're not going to make it over that hill. And as long as you listen to that voice, of course you're going to have a really hard time accomplishing your goal. So what you have to do is stop listening to that voice of self doubt and replace it with a voice that will empower you to succeed rather than to rob you of your confidence and your will to persist and do whatever it takes. So today I'd like to teach you how to transform your inner critic into your inner coach. Now, because you can't just tell that inner critic of yours to shut up and be silent. That doesn't work. You got to do something different. Have you ever heard of the saying, nature abhors a vacuum? Well, so does your mind. If you're thinking of a negative thought and you want to get rid of it, you can't just stop thinking it and have your mind go blank. You have to replace the negative thought With a different positive thought. It's like if I tell you to stop thinking about pink elephants, as soon as I say that, you started to think of a pink elephant, didn't you? But if I say think about a blue rhinoceros, suddenly you're thinking about a blue rhino in your head and the pink elephant disappears. So the best way to stop thinking a negative self doubting thought is to replace it with a positive self affirming thought. And if you find yourself thinking I can't do this, replace it with the thought, of course I can do this. If you find yourself thinking I'm going to lose my job, replace it with the thought, I am a skilled and valuable worker with a creative mind and I will survive this no matter what. You have the power to choose what your thoughts are that you're going to think. And so if you want to overcome self doubt, choose thoughts that empower you to be the person you want to be. Now I know that might sound easier said than done. Those negative thoughts can seem to be hardwired to your brain. So here's a quick process that can help. First off, if you want to change your thoughts, you first have to become more aware of the thoughts that you're having. And the easiest way to do that is through meditation. Just sitting in a chair or on a cushion on the floor and allowing yourself to close your eyes and do nothing but listen to or observe your thoughts as they drift through your mind. Because when you take the time to pay more attention to your thoughts, you're going to begin to recognize the thoughts that are creating your negative emotions, such as fear and self doubt. I want you to observe these thoughts without judgment. Just simply notice when they come up. Notice as they go by. What were the thoughts that sparked that negative self talk? Are there memories from your past that make you feel bad? Are they thoughts about the future or things that haven't happened yet? It's important to remember that the past does not define you and that it's pointless to worry about the future situations that don't even exist yet. So as you become aware of your negative and self sabotaging thoughts, make the conscious choice to let them go. Once upon a time, they may have protected you. That's the thing about your inner critic. It tells you to be scared because. Because it doesn't want you to take a risk that will hurt you. Maybe when you were a kid, you had an embarrassing experience doing a class presentation. Maybe you forgot what you were going to say and the other kids laughed at you. So your Inner Critic told you that you're terrible at public speaking and you should never do it again. Then Inner Voice wasn't trying to hurt you by saying this. It was just trying to protect you from going through that humiliation or embarrassment again. But you're not that little kid anymore and those thoughts are no longer serving you. And the fact is, public speaking is something you can absolutely learn to do very well if you put the time in and join a club like Toastmasters or take our Train the Trainer course. It's simply a skill that anyone can learn. So it's okay to let that thought go and replace it with a more powerful thought such as I could become a good public speaker if I wanted to. Maybe you want to, maybe you don't. But the option is always available to you and it's your choice whether to pursue it or not. You literally could do it if you wanted to. You have the power if you choose to use it. So this week I would like you to take time to pay more attention to your thoughts and every time you notice yourself thinking a negative thought, stop and replace it with a positive, more self empowering thought. Because that's how you overcome self doubt by replacing I can't with I can. Now there's an exercise I do with my students at my Breakthrough to Success workshop where I have them write down a bunch of I can't statements that reflect their perception of their limitations. Things like I can't ski or I can't do math or I can't stand up for myself. Then I get them to transform them into I can statements like I can ski. I just haven't made it a priority to learn how to ski at this time. Or I can do math, I just don't like doing it and would rather pay someone else to do my books for me. Or I can stand up for myself. But I choose not to have that difficult conversation at this time because it's simply not the highest priority for me right now. And once they have gone through all of their limiting beliefs and changed them to acknowledge that they have the ability to to do these things, but they're choosing to direct their attention and effort somewhere else at the time, they end up feeling so much more empowered. So if you have time this week, I encourage you to sit down at some point and do the exercise yourself. Because the thing is, at the most fundamental level, your thoughts create your reality. And when you tell yourself you can't do something, you are going to believe it. That's the source of your self doubt. So if you're tired of struggling with self doubt and want to find the confidence you need to take risks and achieve your goals and become friends with your inner critic and take the time to transform that voice into your inner coach so you can replace your thoughts of self doubt with more empowering ones. I guarantee it will have a huge impact on your outlook and your ability to get stuff done and achieve the results you want in life. Let me know what you think in the comments. Thanks again for watching. And remember, you can achieve anything you can imagine in life. It just takes you taking that first step. If you found this video helpful, please please make sure you like it, share it with a friend who may need it, and subscribe to my channel for more videos like this one. And for some additional exercises and tools for overcoming self doubt. Make sure to visit jackcampfield.com and check out the links in the description below.
