“A higher concept of yourself involves taking on new truths and shedding your old views of what you can achieve.”
— Wayne Dyer

There comes a time in every competitor's journey when the biggest opponent isn't the person across the line of scrimmage—it's the voice in your own head. If you've been following along with our Mind Strength Series, you’ve done the work to expose the lies your inner critic tells you. Now it’s time to replace those lies with new truths. As Wayne Dyer said, it’s time to “take on new truths.”

We do this by creating “I AM” affirmations—new, empowering beliefs that reshape how you see yourself and what you’re capable of.

What is an “I AM” affirmation?

In short, it’s a positive, present-tense statement that declares who you are. I love the way Jerry Fankhauser put it:

“Affirmations are like prescriptions for certain aspects of yourself you want to change.”

These new thoughts serve as mental medicine, reprogramming how you think, feel, and perform—both on and off the field.

3 Rules for Crafting Your “I AM” Affirmations

1. Use Present Tense
   Speak it like it’s already true.
   ✅ Correct: “I Am strong”
   ❌ Incorrect: “I will be strong” or “I was strong”

   Words carry power. When you say “I Am,” you are calling that truth into your life now—not someday.

2. Make it Positive
   Your affirmation should build you up. Even if you're battling a weakness, the affirmation should reflect strength, not deficiency.

   Remember: We want strengthening thoughts—because strengthening thoughts compounded over time create a strong, confident belief system.

   This is how we start to rewire the way we think and see ourselves. One positive, powerful statement at a time.

3. Make it Emotional
   I heard a coach say this once:

   “If you’re juiceless, you’re useless.”
   The same goes for your affirmations. If it doesn’t fire you up—even a little—it’s not strong enough. Your affirmation should stir belief, power, and emotion in you.

From Inner Critic to Inner Champion: Examples

Here were my inner critic thoughts and the affirmations I created to start the road to building a new belief system:

• Old Belief: Not athletic enough to play quarterback
  New Truth: “I Am an amazing athlete and wow people with my playmaking ability!”
  ✅ Present
  ✅ Positive
  ✅ Sparks emotion

• Old Belief: Don’t have a strong enough arm
  New Truth: “I Am deadly accurate and make every throw on the field with ease!”
  ✅ Present
  ✅ Positive
  ✅ Sparks emotion

• Old Belief: Can’t perform in the clutch
  New Truth: “I Am Cool Hand Luke—I deliver in the clutch!”
  ✅ Present
  ✅ Positive
  ✅ Sparks emotion

Your Turn: Rewire Your Belief System

Now it’s your turn to go back to the inner critic thoughts you uncovered in our earlier lessons. One by one, rewrite them as “I AM” affirmations.

Remember:

• Present tense.

• Positive.

• Packed with emotional juice.

Up Next in the Series…

Stay tuned for next week as we dive into how to implement these new truth affirmations into your daily routine and begin building a rock-solid belief system that drives your performance to the next level.

You’re not just changing words—you’re changing your identity.

Let’s go!
— Coach Luke Falk

If you missed the earlier posts, you can catch up here:

• 1: Strengthen Your Belief System: How Confidence Gets Built from the Inside Out
• 2: Out with the Old & In with the New: Disempowering Your Inner Critic
• 3: Trace It to Erase It: Where Your Inner Critic Was Born
• 4: Debunking the Inner Critic (Empty Wells + Comparison)
• 5: Debunk & Disarm: Shining the Light on False Beliefs (Part 2)
• 6. Clearing: A Game-Changing Practice to Free Your Mind