Start2Finish: Fueling Discipline, Focus and the right mindset

What if the greatest obstacle to your success was your own inner voice?

• Kuda Munemo

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What if the greatest obstacle to your success was your own inner voice? 

Your self-perception determines whether you unlock your full potential or remain trapped in self-imposed limitations. This episode dives deep into the transformative power of positive self-talk and how the stories we tell ourselves quite literally shape our reality through self-fulfilling prophecies.

Drawing from personal experiences with cycling challenges and goal-setting, we explore how pushing beyond comfort zones reveals capabilities we never knew we possessed. When facing that steep uphill climb—whether physical or metaphorical—that moment when your body and mind scream to give up is precisely when pushing just a little further leads to breakthrough.

The science is clear: our brains are wired to seek evidence confirming our existing beliefs. Tell yourself "I can't" and you'll find proof at every turn. But flip that script to "I am capable" and watch as new possibilities emerge. Even when you don't fully believe your positive affirmations, consistent repetition gradually reshapes your neural pathways and perception of what's possible.

Ready to transform your inner dialogue? Start by intentionally programming your mind before sleep, when your subconscious is most receptive. Set goals slightly beyond what feels comfortable, and connect emotionally with your "why." Even if you fall short of ambitious targets, you'll accomplish far more than with easily attainable ones.

What empowering story will you tell yourself today? Your next breakthrough might be just one thought away.

Fueling Discipline , focus and the right mindset!

Speaker 1:

Sometimes we tell ourselves I'm not good enough and it manifests. Then you tell yourself you see, I was telling you I'm not good enough. Why don't you flip the script a little bit? Tell yourself the right story every single day. Set a goal that is slightly tougher than the one you thought was the right goal. How do you view yourself? Do you know you are the most? How do you view yourself? Do you know you are the most powerful being on this planet Earth? But the question is how do you see yourself? Do you believe in yourself? The words that you speak to yourself, are they the words that moves you forward or the words that breaks you apart? Sometimes we tell ourselves I'm not good enough and it manifests. Then you tell yourself you see, I was telling you I'm not good enough. Why don't you flip the script a little bit? Tell yourself I'm good enough, I'm capable. What is the story that you're telling yourself? Because when you tell yourself you can't, I can't do this, I'm not capable, and that's true. But the flip side, if you tell yourself you can, then the script has changed those things that you are failing, you start becoming capable to doing that thing. So why tell yourself a negative story. When you can tell yourself a good story, you have nothing to lose by giving yourself good compliments Nothing, they are just words. So if you don't believe in those words, then constantly speak the good words Over your life. Then results will start happening your way. So Today I just want to prove this theory about speaking nice words to yourself, or speaking the things that you want to see manifesting.

Speaker 1:

As a man, think it so easy. Have you ever gone into a dream world and you start dreaming beautiful things? You see yourself as a clay can I don't know if I got that right, but you know what I mean and you can start flying. You know, in that dream world you're a superman, you're a superhero. But the moment you wake up, you are something different. Do you know? You can be a superhero in your dream and even in real life. The question is what are you feeding yourself? What are you telling yourself every single day? Because they call it self-fulfilling prophecies. You say it, it comes to pass. You, you say it, it comes to pass. You think about it. It comes to pass. So why not tell yourself all the great things, all the good things that you want to see coming to pass? It's you telling yourself that you want to see. No one is holding a gun over your head, they're just words. So say the good stuff and forget about the bad stuff. If you have a bad day yesterday, it's fine. That's what life is all about. We have good days and bad days, but you keep saying the things that you want to see manifesting in your life, saying the things that you want to see manifesting in your life.

Speaker 1:

So just before I started this recording, I was super excited about recording it and another voice was telling me you're not going to get it right. So I guess you are the judge Whether I'm getting it right or everything is all mumbled up. But all I can do is I have to believe in myself. I have to. So I started changing that voice in my head to say you know what? Let's just get it done. I am doing that thing that I'm passionate about and I'm just keep on going and I become better and better as I continue doing that thing. But if you listen to that voice when it gives you the negative feedback, what it means is that you then say stop and not do that thing that you know you must keep on doing to get better. They say, practice makes perfect. So you have to continue doing the thing that you're supposed to, but you have to learn to tell yourself. Have conversation with yourself and tell yourself, have conversation with yourself and tell yourself you know what, you are good enough, you are capable, you can do this.

Speaker 1:

So, um, a few days ago, I haven't been on my bike, uh, for a while I think over a month and there's a commitment that I made to myself and to a group of people that we're going to achieve X number of kilometers. I think I've spoken about it before, but if I go for a month without doing it, it means I'm getting left behind. It's been hard every time I try to wake up. It's been hard to get out of bed, to go out there. So this other day I told myself it's the end that I've done many times. That's why it's important to tell yourself the story. So I told myself tomorrow we are going cycling and I believed it. I told myself the reasons why it's important for me to continue doing this thing Good health, good mindset, you know, a focused mind. It helps me body, soul and spirit. All this why improved If I do this exercise. I told myself that I'm getting better every day if I continue doing it. So it's good for me to do it. So I got excited about it.

Speaker 1:

So my bike was dirty and I told myself it was around 5, 30, 6. So I went out, cleaned out my bike, because that's another story that started coming, but the bike is not clean enough. Okay, we can do something about it. Because the story that started coming, but the bike is not clean enough, okay, we can do something about it. Because the story that I told myself to say, if I do this thing, it's going to be a game changer, it's the one that I stuck with Because there was an emotion to it that I've given myself. So I went on, cleaned the bike, squeaky clean, ready for the following day. And oh, the gumming and the lights are not charged. No problem, I have solar on my roof, don't worry about it.

Speaker 1:

So I went on, charged up my gummies and prepared myself to go out there In the morning. It was the hardest, imagine. For more than a month. You're sort of like creating a new habit already, because, remember, if you do something for the next 30 days, it has already become a habit. So I'm trying to break it and go back to my routine, so it was hard to work up.

Speaker 1:

The alarm went first time, second time, lucky for me. You know I wanted to use the restroom. That woke me up and I went there, came back, roll into my bed, but somehow this thing kept nagging me. Do it Go out there, get it done. You commit it to yourself. Do it Go out there, get it done. You commit it to yourself.

Speaker 1:

That's the thing about stories, and it was for me a reminder to be in that place where you tell yourself the story of what you want to achieve. And guess what? I'm not. A night before I had gone to bed early Because you know I want to fulfill this exciting story that I've told myself. Try it, tell yourself a story before you go to bed. But when you tell yourself those stories, don't do anything else that distracts you from that thought process sticking in. You'd rather be reading a book, you'd rather be listening to something motivational because you want that thought. You don't want to then get distracted and start watching things that messes up with your head or start doing things that doesn't really resonate with productivity or getting your life better. So I went straight to bed listening to some music and I got up and I did that thing.

Speaker 1:

So when you tell yourself the right story with the right emotion and the reason why you must do it, the majority of the time you will get it done. You just have to want it bad enough. What stories are you supposed to tell yourself? What encouragement are you supposed to give yourself? You don't just go to work and say, okay, I want to do five. Yes, you can have a plan and a goal that is clearly written down. I want to do 10 calls per day, but when you work up, even if with a clear plan, with a clear structure, if you don't motivate yourself enough, if you don't that's why it's always said plan for the next day at the end of each day, because the whole idea is about feeding your mind. It's about feeding, you know, your thoughts to say, hey, log this in for me, so that when I wake up in the morning I'm locked and loaded, I'm well rested, I'm fresh and I have something that I've logged into my spirit. And when you kickstart the day with that level of energy, results will begin to manifest.

Speaker 1:

You get to accomplish those things that you would have said to yourself you want to accomplish, because I remember many times I used to write a whole list of things that I want, or I have a calendar that is full right now Monday, I'm supposed to do this. Tuesday, I'm supposed to do this. Wednesday, I'm supposed to do this all the way to the entire weekend. And guess what? You can literally go through the entire week without touching any one of those activities that you have set in your calendar. I know there are many like me out there, but when you make it intentional, when you put it inside of you every single day, you look at it and you tell yourself you know, I must do this thing. Then you follow through with it.

Speaker 1:

Tell yourself the story before you go to bed. Read a book, meditate on that thing, but it must be a beautiful story that is believable to you, like many other stories that you have told yourself that are believable to you that you can't. Just this one time. Tell yourself, you know, tomorrow. People have always told me that I can't fulfill this thing, I can't do it. But I'm telling myself right now, this moment, that thing. I've already accomplished it, because the stories we tell yourself resonates with you. What are you going to start telling yourself from today going forward? That is the thing that is going to be a game changer to changing your life, to improving from where you are to get to where you're supposed to be.

Speaker 1:

And the next thing that I did it's important to have a slightly bigger goal than the goal that you'd have set for yourself. Slightly a bigger goal than the goal that you'd have set for yourself. You know there's a goal that is comfortable, but you want an uncomfortable goal. And when you have set that goal and you've been telling yourself the stories, it's internalized, it has become imprinted in your mind and you begin to start to work towards that goal. You can achieve it.

Speaker 1:

So I was out there cycling and I want obviously I want to make some improvements, right, and I'm on a climb and I'm going up. I'm going up, I'm getting tired, but I I gave myself a new goal to say, okay, fine, let's just hit the next two kilometers with the same effort, with the same cadence, with the same rhythm. So we just want to get over by that corner right there. For some weird reason, my mind then got activated to say, okay, fine, I want to reach that point. And I had to do everything in my power to push as hard as I could to reach that position that I wanted to get to. In some cases you may reach it, but you may not. You may reach it without you know having achieved that goal, but the beauty of it is you have reached that position.

Speaker 1:

I remember last year when, when I started this podcast, I told myself I want to record 54 videos. That's a video per week. I did 22 videos. I came short. I came short. It's okay. The goal was big but my capacity was limited. But I did the best I can to achieve as much as I could. That's what we are all talking. That's what I'm only talking about.

Speaker 1:

Set a bigger goal that is uncomfortable and do the best you can and push yourself until you get to that place. Don't set a comfortable, because the moment you set a comfortable goal, chances are you may not even achieve half of the things that you'd have set. It's too comfortable. It makes you want to sleep. You want something that makes you lay sleepless at night because you know you have committed to yourself that I must achieve this goal. You know the reason why I give analogies of cycling is it's practical. It's right there.

Speaker 1:

You are climbing a hill that is going like this. Somewhere in your climb you're almost giving up. But at that point of giving up, that's when you just have to push yourself a little bit more, through the pain, through the pinch of your entire body, telling you I'm ready to shut down. And you push through it, you surprise yourself that you have finished the hill. So in Highlands there is a place called the Makandiwa Hill For those if you are going towards Mutoko Road right Chishawasha that side. They are beautiful uphills.

Speaker 1:

I remember the other time I was climbing up that Makandiwa Hill all the way to the peak of it. So it's like going up. At one point I'm thinking, you know what, let me just stop and give up. But I'd set a goal to say I want to reach the pinnacle, I want to reach the peak. So I had to push myself and continue pushing myself until I reached the peak. So set a goal that makes you uncomfortable and push through it through the pain, through the frustrations. The environment may not look right, but because you have set a goal, you're on a mission, you want to see through to the finish line. So these are the two theories that I just wanted to give you out there. Tell yourself the right story Every single day, set a goal that is slightly tougher than the one you thought was the right goal. Set the goal first, review it and say, okay, fine, so if I just add on a little twitch here, what will happen? And see what happens. It's a game changer. So, from us start to finish, let's go, let's keep pushing.