Self-Talk
Audit

MINDSET & GROWTH TOOLS

Examine what your inner narrative is saying and whether
it is actually telling you the truth.

The Narrator in Your Head

Most leaders are aware they have an inner voice. Fewer have examined what it actually says. The self-talk running in the background during difficult moments - before a high-stakes conversation, after something goes wrong, when you are weighing a decision - has a significant effect on both performance and wellbeing. Not because it is always wrong, but because it is often automatic and unexamined.

The problem is not that the inner critic exists. It is that it tends to speak with more authority than the evidence warrants. "I'm not sure that went well" and "I'm failing at this" are not the same claim, but in the heat of the moment they can feel identical. This audit helps you slow that process down enough to look at what you are actually telling yourself and whether it holds up.

Work with a specific recent situation - a moment where the self-talk was noticeably loud, whether negative or distorted.

How to Use This Worksheet

  1. Situation: Describe the specific moment. Not a general tendency - a particular event where the self-talk was present and noticeable.
  2. The Self-Talk: Write exactly what you told yourself, as literally as possible. Approximate quotes work. Vague summaries do not.
  3. What It Assumes: Pull out the underlying assumption. Every piece of self-talk implies something about you, the situation, or other people - name it explicitly.
  4. What Is Actually True: Check the assumption against evidence. Be as rigorous here as you would be evaluating someone else's claim.
  5. A More Useful Response: Write the statement you would want available in that moment - accurate, not falsely positive.
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Self-Talk Audit

Situation

What specific moment are you examining? Describe it briefly.

The Self-Talk

What did you tell yourself? Write it as literally as possible.

What It Assumes

What underlying assumption about you, the situation, or others does this self-talk imply?

2

Self-Talk Audit (continued)

What Is Actually True

Check the assumption against evidence. What does the actual record show?

A More Useful Response

What would you want to be able to tell yourself in that moment - accurate, not falsely reassuring?

Before your next session: In the past week, what situation triggered the most noticeable self-talk? Was it familiar - a pattern you have encountered before? What would it take for your response in that moment to reflect what you wrote above rather than what came automatically?

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