Jim Kwik describes being called "the boy with the broken brain" as a child and how that label stuck. He argues that the words following "I am" program your brain's outcomes, and that self-talk either limits or unlocks your potential.
Parents and adults have to be very careful because your external words become a child's internal words. Age 9, a teacher looked at me, said, that's the boy with the broken brain, for the whole class. Whoa. Every single time I did bad on a quiz, on a test, or not picked for a sports team, which was all the time, I would say, oh, because I have the broken brain. That became my internal conversation. And I always tell people when they come to me and they say, I'm not smart enough, I'm not good enough, I have a horrible memory, I always say, if you fight for your limitations, you get to keep them. Your brain is like a supercomputer, and your self-talk is a program it will run. So if you tell yourself you're not good at remembering names, you will not remember the name of the next person you meet because you programmed your supercomputer not to. They say the 2 most powerful words in the English language are also the smallest: I am. Because whatever you put after that, complete that sentence with, is going to determine your destination.
The Library of Minds: Brain Coach: How to Stay Sharp When AI Does the Thinking | Jim Kwik
