The Old You Is Loud. Don’t Let It Lead.
Stephen Dair
May 18, 2025
The Old You Is Loud. Don’t Let It Lead.
Subject: The old you is loud. But not in charge.
First line: You'll never build a new life with the same story that broke you.
It starts quietly. A goal, a plan, maybe even a little momentum.
Then something hits—a pause, a hesitation, a sentence that slips in almost unnoticed:
“I’ve never been good at follow-through.”
“That’s just not who I am.”
“I always find a way to mess this up.”
It doesn’t feel like fear. It feels like fact.
Familiar. Reasonable. Even responsible.
So you listen. You shrink the goal. You delay the start.
You retreat—just a little.
Not because you can’t do it.
But because the voice inside sounds so convincing.
Here's the truth most people miss: That voice in your head isn't just describing your reality. It's creating it.
Your internal dialogue isn't random—it's a carefully constructed defense system designed to keep you safely inside the boundaries of your past identity.
"I'm not a morning person." "I always quit when things get hard." "I'll never be good with money."
These aren't observations. They're anchors, holding you to a story that may have stopped serving you years ago.
Your old story is LOUD. It's persistent. It has years of evidence backing it up.
But volume doesn't equal authority.
The most powerful words you can speak are: "I don't do that anymore."
Not as wishful thinking. As declaration.
The action: Set a timer for 5 minutes. Write down ONE phrase you catch yourself saying that anchors your old identity. Something that starts with "I always..." or "I never..." or "I'm just not the kind of person who..."
Now, interrupt the pattern. Write its opposite, starting with: "That was the old story. The new story is..."
Say it out loud. Feel the resistance. Say it again anyway.
This isn't affirmation—it's interruption. You're creating a pattern disruption in neural pathways that have been firing the same way for years.
Your brain believes what you tell it consistently. Start telling it a new story.
The close: The gap between your current life and your potential isn't skill or strategy—it's story. Five minutes of narrative interruption can begin rewriting the script that's been running your life.
Catch the old story. Interrupt the pattern. Write the new narrative.