A Weekly Journey into Purpose, Leadership, and Whole-Brain Thinking
Chronicle 8: The Words You Use Are Keeping You Small
July 5, 2026
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Pay attention to how you talk about yourself.
"I'm not really a leader." "I'm just too emotional for that." "I'm not the analytical type."
We say these things casually. Almost as disclaimers. As if shrinking ourselves first protects us from being found out later.
But here's what I've learned: the words you use about yourself become the walls you live inside.
The Language of Limitation
Words are not neutral.
Every time you say "I'm not really a leader" you are making a deposit into a belief system that will eventually determine what opportunities you pursue, what rooms you walk into, and what assignments you accept or decline.
Most of us inherited our self-limiting language. Someone said it about us first — a parent, a teacher, a manager, a church leader — and we believed them so completely that we started saying it ourselves. Eventually we stopped needing them to say it.
We said it for them.
And the dangerous thing about inherited language is that it feels like truth. It feels like honest self-awareness. It feels like humility.
But there is nothing humble about rejecting the design God gave you.
True humility says: "I don't fully understand how God made me yet — but I trust that He made me on purpose."
What God Says About Your Words
Proverbs 18:21 tells us: "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit."
Life and death. Not just in how we speak to others — but in how we speak to ourselves.
The words you use about your own design are either calling your calling forward or pushing it further away.
Which are yours doing?
Reflection Questions
Sit with these honestly:
What is one phrase you regularly use to describe yourself that limits how you show up? Where did that phrase come from originally?
What would you attempt — in your calling, your leadership, your relationships — if you stopped using that phrase starting today?
Write your answers down. The language you choose from this point forward matters more than you know.
This Week's Action Step
Choose one self-limiting phrase you use regularly about yourself.
This week every time you catch yourself about to say it — stop. Replace it with this simple statement:
"I am still learning how God designed me to show up in this."
That's it. You don't have to overclaim. You just have to stop underclaiming.
Notice how that single shift changes how you enter rooms, conversations, and opportunities this week.