When my son was going to try out for the swim team, his self-talk began laying the groundwork for failure.
"My legs hurt."
"I am tired."
"I probably won't make the team."
Many of us do this. We say these things to make it easier, or more acceptable if we fail. But what we are doing is laying the groundwork to fail. We believe what we tell ourselves, but our self-talk is often not true. Until we make it true.
In marketing, the words we use and the stories we tell the matter. The same is true for what we tell ourselves. The words and stories you say to yourself matter.