The Internal Conversation That Changes Everything

What if the biggest thing holding you back… is the conversation happening inside your own head?

This week on Finding Your Innergator, RB Wright shares an unexpected moment that stopped him in his tracks while attending an event in Charlotte, NC.

Walking through the hotel hallway with Daniel DiGuglielmo (Danny D), RB noticed a hand-written “Growth Mindset” board hanging inside the HR office. What looked simple at first turned into one of the most powerful real-world reminders about mindset, self-talk, growth, discipline, and personal transformation.

The board contained daily affirmations designed to challenge negative thinking and replace limitation with growth:

“I can’t do this.”
- “I am still learning.”

“I’m afraid of making mistakes.”
- “Mistakes are how I learn and grow.”

“This is too hard.”
- “With more practice, it will get easier.”

“They are better than I am.”
-“What can I learn from them?”

In this episode, RB breaks down why mindset is not motivation — it is the lens through which you interpret adversity, pressure, failure, opportunity, and growth.

You’ll learn:

• Why failure is tuition
• How repetition creates confidence
• Why growth requires discomfort
• The danger of negative self-programming
• How comparison can either destroy confidence or fuel growth
• Why your internal dialogue becomes your identity
• The connection between mindset, discipline, and greatness

This episode is a direct challenge to examine the words you repeat to yourself every single day.

Because eventually…

Your thoughts become your actions.
Your actions become your habits.
Your habits become your identity.
And your identity becomes your life.

If you’ve ever battled self-doubt, fear, comparison, frustration, or limitation — this episode is for you.

You already have greatness inside of you.

Now it’s time to let the gator out of the cage.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Hello, everybody, and welcome to Finding Your Innergator Podcast, where we talk about discipline, relationships, and the habits that release to greatness that is already inside of you. I'm your host, RB Wright, and I am so glad that you're here. In each episode, we'll explore powerful lessons, real life stories, and practical strategies to help you live intentionally, build meaningful relationships, and unlock your full potential. But greatness isn't something you stumble into, it's something that is built every single day. So let's get started and begin the journey to finding your inner gator. Hey, what's up everybody? This is RB Wright. You are listening to Finding Your Inner Gator, and I have to tell you, I am so glad that you are here. You are here before we get into the details of today's episode. Let me just tell you real quick. I've had some really good, really amazing and good feedback from several of you. Typically, these episodes are 12 to 18 minutes. I I want you to listen to it while you're on your commute, uh while you're walking, uh maybe while you're in your quiet space thinking. I want you to use it to get your head where your head needs to be, right? It's really focused on getting that mindset where it needs to be. When I have guests on, I need you to know that sometimes those guests and I get involved in a deep conversation, we don't know where it's going to go many times. So they may run 30 minutes, 45 minutes, or an hour. And we saw that with uh Allison Blanchard, Zam Monroe, John Langdon. If you're riding down the road and you get to your destination, I encourage you to go back and listen to the end of those episodes. Finish listening to them. There is so much meat and so much stuff that I learned, and it shows and emphasizes what we talk about. It brings it to life. It brings it to life. So I encourage you to do that. I mean, today's episode came from something completely unexpected. Sometimes those are the best lessons, right? So this past week I was in Philly, then I was in uh Charlotte, and we're we're with our partners having conversations, not about what we're doing right. But what's the not the 90% we're doing right, what's the 10% we need to be better on, right? What do we need to do better? Well, dear one, the breaks, uh Danny D. I always call him Danny D. His last n I'm pretty good with last names and pronunciation, but I've always murdered his name. So I always call him Danny D. I love the way he thinks. He is a wonderful guy from down in the great state of Alabama. Well, he he and I were walking down uh the hallway of the hotel, uh, and he stopped and he pointed, and he pointed to the HR office. And what he said was, you need to see that. You need to see that. And so as I'm sitting there, walked up, I looked, and there was this giant board on the wall that said, growth mindset. And I stuck my head in the door and started talking with the HR director. It was her office. And I'm like, this is what I talk about all the time. This is amazing. And I thought it was a poster. As I looked closer, I could tell this is something she had written out. And she told me these were her daily affirmations, things she intentionally reminds herself of and her team of every single day. And honestly, I thought it was incredible. Not because it was fancy, not because it was just revolutionary, but because it was true. You know, when Allison was on a few weeks ago, she said, you need to stop listening to yourself and stop start talking to yourself. This entire board was about changing the conversation happening inside your own head. She had written as a subtitle that success begins with believing you can. Oh, what a great motivation. It drives me crazy because it's not motivation. Listen to me, mindset is the lens through which you interpret adversity, pressure, failure, growth, and opportunity. It's the lens in which you are looking through, and it's what determines how you're going to interpret those things. Two people can experience the exact same event and walk away completely different outcomes because of the story they tell themselves afterwards. One person can say, I failed, or the other person says, Well, I learned. One stays stuck, the other one grows. That's mindset. You know, I was looking at the affirmations that she had on the board. And if you can, a picture on the left hand side, she'd have a saying, on the right hand side, she'd have a response. Because again, she understood what we just talked about. This is what you're programming yourself. Point number one said, I can't do this. Her response was, I'm still learning. That's powerful, isn't it? Most people quit too early. They confuse not good yet with never capable. But the truth is, every expert was once a beginner. Every confident person was once uncomfortable. Every successful person once looked inexperienced. If you do something every day, you'll get good at it. Growth requires awkwardness. Growth requires awkwardness, guys. You don't become strong before resistance. You become strong because of the resistance. That applies in business, in relationships. That applies spiritually, physically, financially, it applies everywhere. Too many people shut themselves down before they ever give themselves time to develop. Again, when you say, I can't do this, replace that with, I'm still learning. The next one I liked, I'm afraid of making mistakes. I'm afraid of making a mistake. Her response was, mistakes are how I learn and grow. Now this one hit me hard because fear of failure paralyzes so many people. People they don't start the business. They don't make the call. They don't launch a podcast. They don't chase a dream. They don't have the hard conversations. Why? Because they are afraid of getting it wrong. But failure is tuition. Listen to that again. Hear what I'm telling you. Failure is tuition. The people winning in life are not people who avoid mistakes. They are the people who learn faster from the mistakes. You know what really scares me more than failure is regret. And I have said to you, I never want to be that guy that's looking back, saying, what could my life have become if I had trusted God, trusted myself, and taken the shot. I don't want to be sitting on my front porch, and all the hope that I have today is now regret. Regret of not doing it. Regret of not doing it. And remember, guys, if you're afraid of making a mistake, replace that with mistakes or how you learn and grow. Isn't this good stuff? My God, I loved it. The third one was this is too hard. Well, her response was, with more practice, it would get easier. That's discipline. That's what we talk about. That's discipline. Nobody starts out great. Whether it's public speaking, leadership, fishing, offshore, when I go offshore fishing, man, there was so much I had to learn. Today, I'm the guy that's teaching people how to do it. Whether you're building a business, recruiting, marriage, parenting, reputation creates confidence. I think one of the problems is that most people want comfort immediately. But growth and comfort rarely live in the same room. You have to stay with something long enough to develop competency. That's why I always tell people small consistent actions compound into massive outcomes. When somebody says this is too hard, the response in your mind has got to be replaced that statement with more practice, it will get easier. She had on there her fourth fourth point was I give up. Her replacement thought, I will try a different way. That's resilience. Sometimes the answer is not quitting, sometimes the answer is adjusting what you're doing. I always talk about a path from here to there that it's not a straight line. You're going to have obstacles, right? The route doesn't change. I mean, the route does change. The mission, your destination doesn't. And I think there are a lot of people who need to hear that right now. Just because one opportunity didn't work, just because one relationship failed, just because one season, one chapter was painful, that doesn't mean your future is over. It may simply mean you need a different strategy. So when your mind says to you, I give up, your response needs to be, I'll try a different way. The fifth thing she had on there said, I don't know how. What she replaced it with was I can learn how. That right there separates growth-minded people from stagnant people. Successful people aren't born knowing more. They simply stay teachable, coachable longer. Ego will tell you I already know. The growth mindset says, Teach me. One of the greatest advantages you can develop in life is curiosity. Stay humble enough to learn. Again, when it says to you, I don't know how, I can learn how. Think about that. Everything that we're saying right here, right? Everything we're saying is you cannot possess two thoughts at the same time. You can't have a positive and negative thought at the same time. You constantly, constantly have to be listening to what you are saying and then talking to yourself on programming yourself the right way. The favorite one I had on the board was the last one. They are better at it than I am. Think about it. We're looking at our competitors and we say, they are better at it than I am. She replaced it with, What can I learn from them? Well, most people will compare themselves into insecurity. But mature people, successful people, turn comparison into education. Top performers, instead of jealousy, they study excellence. Instead of being threatened, they become curious. That changes everything. Because every person that's ahead of you leaves clues. Leaves clues. When your mind says to you they are better at it than I am, replace it. What can I learn from them? You know that the whole board honestly fits perfectly with what we talk about here at Inner Gator. I know it's greatness achieved through optimizing relationships, but the most important, one of, if not the most important relationship you will ever optimize is the relationship that you have with yourself. The words you repeat daily matter. The story you tell yourself matters. The internal voice builds belief or it builds barriers. Listen to me. Your internal dialogue will either build belief in what you're doing, or it's going to build barriers. That's why you have to guard your mindset daily. Feed your mind intentionally. I talk about what you program yourself. Protect your environment. Watch who you listen to. Watch what you consume. Watch what you repeatedly say. Monitor yourself. Keep yourself in check. We just said that the relationship with yourself is one of, if not the most important. And with your friends, you're keeping them in check. Keep yourself in check. Eventually, your thoughts become your actions, and your actions become your habits, and your habits become your identity, and your denity becomes your life. Today I just want to simply challenge you. Pay attention to the conversation happening inside your own head. Are you speaking growth or are you speaking limitation? Are you building belief or are you making excuses? I believe the life you want may begin with changing a single sentence you repeat to yourself every day. And to the HR director who allowed me to come in, read the board and take the picture. Thank you. Thank you. You are probably impacting more people than you realize. And for everybody that's listening to this, remember, you already have greatness inside of you. I told you day one, you got to let that gator out of the cage. I appreciate you listening. I look forward to catching up with you next week. Everybody, thank you so much for listening to the Finding Your Inner Gator podcast. You know, if today's episode helped you, share it with someone who needs to hear this message. Remember, greatness is achieved through discipline, intentional action, and optimizing the relationships around you. I look forward to getting with you next week. Now, go Gatorize your day.