Have you ever had a someone say something that just stopped you in your tracks and shifted your whole perspective?
I think of golden nuggets often—simple phrases that land so hard they shift your thinking. Sometimes, they’re more powerful than any medication, fitness plan, or health advice. They make you believe something new. And that belief? It changes everything.
Believing Something to Be True
A few years ago, I booked an appointment with a new primary care doctor. I’d sought him out for his interest in thyroid health and weight loss. I’d been struggling for years—ever since I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, my body hadn’t felt like my own. I wasn’t someone who’d ever struggled with weight, but suddenly nothing I did seemed to help.
I tried everything: running, Weight Watchers, keto, low-fat, high-protein, you name it. It was always one step forward, two steps back. And each setback chipped away at how I saw myself. I felt hopeless about my body and my health—and that hopelessness fed more weight gain. Eventually, I found myself 85 pounds heavier than I’d been most of my adult life.
Work was the only place I felt successful, so I buried myself in it—which, of course, brought its own problems.
And then, in that doctor’s office, I got a golden nugget.
He asked, “So what weight do you feel your best at?” I said, without much hope, “I’d love to be down 85 pounds.” He didn’t hesitate for a second.
“We’ll for sure get you back there. No doubt about it.”
He didn’t offer statistics. He didn’t hedge. He just gave me belief.
And that belief mattered more than anything else. Over the next four years, when the weight loss stalled-and it did-I didn’t default to “Here we go again, nothing works.” I thought about that sentence. I thought, He said I will get down there. So I will. It was that powerful.
“Remember When You Told Me. . .?”
As a physician, I’ve had patients come back and say, “Remember when you told me…” and honestly? I usually panic for a second. (Please don’t let it be something embarrassing!) But more often than not, it’s a golden nugget moment I didn’t even realize I’d given.
One man with a history of lymphoma was still smoking. I said, “I know you’re going to quit smoking because we’re not going to cure your lymphoma just for you to die of lung cancer.”
He told me it jolted him. He stopped smoking that week.
He said to himself after that visit, “She’s right. If I can go through all that treatment, I can stop smoking.”
Another woman, had metastatic breast cancer to the brain. Initially, her prognosis had been grim. But with new treatments, there was real hope that she may be cured. Still, she struggled to find motivation to care about her body. In one of our visits, I asked her:
“Is thinking about the possibility of dying from something you may not die from preventing you from actually living?”
That question hit her in a way I didn’t expect. She told me later it stuck with her—that it flipped a switch. It reminded me that often, the most therapeutic part of a visit isn’t the scan result. It’s the words we choose. The belief of hope we hold for someone.
Limiting Beliefs vs. Empowering Beliefs
Tony Robbins teaches this beautifully. He asks people to reframe trauma as the source of their power, not their pain. He flips the narrative. The words we speak—about ourselves, about others—shape what we believe is possible.
Whether you’re a clinician, coach, friend, or parent, this matters. The language we use can reinforce someone’s fear or rewrite their story. We can help them shift from “I can’t” to “Maybe I can.” or “I will.” That shift can change everything.
If you haven’t watched the Tony Robbins Netflix documentary I Am Not Your Guru, I’d highly recommend it.
Are your relationships therapeutic?
In coaching, we learn that thoughts drive actions—and changing the thought is the first step to achieving the outcome. That’s not just true for clients. It’s true in every relationship. We all have the power to reinforce someone’s limiting belief—or challenge it with hope.
Are you being that type of friend, coach, parent, or doctor that is reinforcing limiting beliefs or one that is bringing hope for their desired outcome?
You never know when your words might be someone’s golden nugget.
Choose them with care. Speak with belief and hope. You might just change someone’s life.
Nice share!