Via Daniel Wall and EJAE

“My mom has always told me what you say out loud is very important because I would be like, “Oh, I can’t do this.” She keeps telling me, ‘Don’t say that. Don’t say you can’t do it. Just say you can.‘

If you keep saying, ‘I can’t do it, I can’t do it,’ then you won’t be able to. You’re convincing yourself enough where you won’t be able to.

But if you keep saying, “I can, I can,” then you can do it. You’ll be convincing yourself enough for you to have that confidence subconsciously to be able to do it. […] It’s like whatever you say out loud will become a story. […] And I took that very seriously.

— How EJAE Wrote The Biggest Songs for KPop Demon Hunters, at 1:32:40

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EJAE, the singing voice of Rumi, and one of the songwriters behind the music of KPop Demon Hunters, shared how her mother taught her a fundamental principle that shaped her mindset through years of being told she wasn’t good enough.

“What you say out loud is very important,” her mother would tell her, refusing to let EJAE speak negatively about her abilities. “Don’t say you can’t do it. Just say you can.”

The psychology behind this advice reveals how self-talk creates self-fulfilling prophecies:

• Repeatedly saying “I can’t” convinces you subconsciously that failure is inevitable
• Consistently affirming “I can” builds subconscious confidence that enables success
• Your words don’t just reflect your mindset—they actively shape it
• The stories you tell yourself out loud become the reality you live

After getting dropped by her label at 22 and failing to debut as a Kpop idol, EJAE’s use of intentional narrative language helped sustain her through low periods until her eventual breakthrough and global success.

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