The Stories Fear Tells
F-Bomb #7 - The Stories Fear Tells - And How to Rewrite Yours
When I was in college, I blew our knee on a beam dismount. It wasn’t my first big fall and major injury, I’d had several during my career. But it was the last… I was a DI athlete at LSU and it was a career-ending injury.
If I could go back and tell my younger self something, I’d start with this:
Buy Apple stock.
(Also: don’t overpluck your eyebrows in the 90s.)
But if I really wanted to change her life, I’d say this:
Think more about staying on the beam than falling off. (as a metaphor for life)
As an elite gymnast, I heard this from every coach I had. “Visualize success.” “See yourself sticking the landing.”
And I nodded like I understood. But in truth, I didn’t get it, not in the deep way that would’ve changed how I trained, performed, or even lived.
What I did do?
I thought a lot about failing. What if I miss? What if I wobble? What if I fall in front of everyone? And I fell – a lot. The beam was not my best event. It was scary.
Turns out, my brain was telling stories. And those stories shaped my actions.
We are dropping another F-Bomb - not that f-bomb… we are talking Fear.
Fear: The Inner Narrator You Didn’t Hire
Fear is sneaky. It doesn’t always show up as panic, it shows up as your internal narrator, muttering things like:
“You’re not ready.”
“They’re way better at this than you.”
“You’ll screw this up and everyone will know.”
It sounds familiar. Reasonable, even. But it’s not fact. It’s fiction disguised as truth.
The Brain LOVES a Pattern (Even a Crummy One)
Here’s the science: Your brain has this handy thing called neuroplasticity, which means it gets really good at whatever you do often, whether it’s speaking Spanish or spiraling in self-doubt.
The more you think a thought, the faster your brain wires it in. Like carving a groove in a record. And before long, you don’t even notice it’s playing on loop:
You always freeze.
You never finish things.
You’re too much. Or not enough.
Sound familiar?
Try This: The 5-Year-Old Test
Take the nastiest thing your inner voice says on a bad day, and imagine saying it to a wide-eyed, tutu-wearing 5-year-old.
“You’re terrible at this.”
“You look ridiculous.”
“Why can’t you be as good as the others?”
You wouldn’t. You’d be horrified.
So why are you saying it to yourself?
Rewrite. Rewire. Repeat.
Here’s the truth that took me decades (and multiple failures) to fully embrace:
Your brain can make or break your success.
Not just on the balance beam - but in the boardroom, the classroom, or wherever you're aiming to show up big.
Rewriting your story doesn’t mean faking confidence.
It means choosing a new internal script - one that supports your goals instead of sabotaging them.
Try this:
Change “I always mess up” to “I’m still learning.”
Change “This never works” to “This time, I’m trying something new.”
Change “What if I fall?” to “What if it all works out?”
Final Draft: You In Charge
Fear will still show up. But now, you don’t have to hand it the pen.
Build yourself up instead of tearing yourself down.
What story do you want to tell yourself next?
Write it down. Whisper it. Repeat it like it’s already true.
Because your life isn’t a script someone else handed you -
It’s a story you’re still writing.