Stop That Loser Energy

The Voice That Says “You’re Not Smart Enough”

There’s a voice I’ve carried for a long time.

It sounds like:
You’re not smart enough for that.
That’s for naturally gifted people.
That’s too hard for you.
You don’t have what it takes.

And the strange part is this.

It doesn’t match my life at all.

Anything I’ve truly set my mind to, I’ve achieved.
When I work hard, I get results.

So why does that voice still exist?

Where That Voice Comes From

I don’t think we’re born believing we’re incapable.

I think we learn it.

Maybe it was a comment from a teacher.
Maybe it was a parent projecting their own fear.
Maybe it was a toxic relationship.
Maybe it was being compared to someone else.
Maybe it was not doing well on one test and quietly deciding that meant something permanent about you.

When you hear “you’re not enough” enough times, it wires itself in.

Eventually, it doesn’t even sound like them anymore.

It sounds like you.

The Lie of “Not Smart Enough”

Here’s what I’ve been sitting with lately.

There’s something I want to pursue that feels outside my realm.

Immediately, the voice comes back.
That’s for smart people.
You’re not built for that.
Be realistic.

But let’s actually question that.

Have I tried?
Have I put in the effort?
Have I given it discipline and focus?

Or have I just assumed I can’t?

There’s a big difference between
“I gave it everything, and it didn’t work out.”
and
“I didn’t try because I decided I wasn’t capable.”

Those are two very different endings.

The Energy Shift

In the middle of me spiraling about this, my husband said something simple.

“Stop with the loser energy.”

As blunt as that sounds, he wasn’t wrong.

Loser energy isn’t failing.

Loser energy is deciding you’ve already failed before you’ve begun.

It’s telling yourself:
I can’t.
I’m not built for this.
That’s not for me.

Instead of saying:
I don’t know this yet.
I can learn.
If I put in the work, we’ll see what happens.

That shift changes everything.

Compassion Isn’t Just for Easy Seasons

I talk a lot about giving myself grace.

And I do when things are going well.
When I’m confident.
When I feel strong.

But compassion matters most when I’m uncomfortable.

Right now, I’m in a season of transition.
New environments. New challenges. New standards. New expectations.

This is when the old wiring tries to come back.

This is when I need to say:

You are capable.
You are not behind.
You are not less intelligent.
You are not disqualified.

You are stretching.

Stretching can feel like breaking.
But it isn’t.

Rewiring the Narrative

Here’s what I’m choosing instead.

I am going to pursue the thing that scares me.

I am going to give it everything I can.
Time.
Effort.
Focus.
Discipline.

If months from now it does not work out the way I hoped, that is okay.

Because I will know without question that I did everything in my power.

There is peace in that.

There is no shame in trying your hardest and not getting the outcome you wanted.

The only thing that lingers is regret when you do not try at all.

The Real Goal

This is not about proving I am smart.

It is about proving to myself that I am willing to show up fully for my own life.

I am willing to silence the voice that was handed to me and build a new one.

That I am capable of rewiring the narrative I grew up with.

Challenges do not shrink you.
They refine you.

Transitions do not expose weakness.
They reveal capacity.

If you are in a season where that old voice is creeping back in and telling you that you are not enough, not capable, not qualified, I hope you question it.

Not harshly.
Not aggressively.

Just honestly.

Is it true?
Or is it old?

Those are not the same thing.

Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is try. Not because you are guaranteed to win, but because you refuse to disqualify yourself.