Click here to listen to Episode 159 of the Minutes on Growth podcast on Apple Podcast, on Spotify, or watch it on Youtube.
Hi soul friends, it’s Tannaz Hosseinpour and welcome back to another short solo episode of the Minutes on Growth podcast. Today’s solo episode is inspired by a moment that really stayed with me; something I heard in a conversation between Madonna, Jay Shetty, and Eitan Yardeni, a phenomenal Kabbalah teacher
He shared a powerful analogy that resonated with me so deeply, I knew I had to bring it here and expand on it not just spiritually, but also through the lens of psychology and personal growth.
Let’s start with the inner critic..
We’ve all heard the voice in our head … the one that doubts, fears, criticizes. And if you’ve been on this journey of healing and growth for a while, you’ve probably also asked yourself:
“How do I overcome this voice? How do I silence the inner critic? How do I stop the chatter?”
But I want to go deeper than just asking how.
I want to ask: Why is it even there in the first place? What’s its purpose?
Because I truly believe — and what Kabbalah also teaches — is that everything has purpose. Even that annoying, persistent internal chatter. Even the self-doubt. Even the fear.
In that interview, Eitan offered a sport analogy, a football or soccer nlogyif you’re in North America, that I’ll never forget. He said:
“What feels better — scoring into an empty net, or scoring against an opponent?”
And that hit home, because I grew up playing soccer. I remember those childhood practices so clearly — it’s one thing to shoot into an open goal. But when there’s a goalie? When there’s a defender coming at you? That’s when you really learn. You dribble better. You move quicker. You develop skill, strategy, strength.
The opponent makes you better.
The opponent is the reason you grow.
The obstacle isn’t in the way — it is the way.
Not going to lie.. When I first started embarking on the personal development journey, I thought that the goal was to fight my inner critic. Like, shut it down, override it, silence it. But over the years, that understanding has shifted.
The more I studied psychology and spirituality, the more I realized that what you fight fights back. What you resist, persists. So instead, I learned to turn toward it… to get curious.
When the chatter gets loud, I ask:
- What are you afraid of?
- What are you trying to protect me from?
- What skill do I need to strengthen here? What do I need to learn right now?
Because just like in parts work in psychology for example IFS or schema therapy — every part of us, even the ones that feel like enemies, are actually trying to help us. Their methods might be outdated. Their voices might sound harsh. But underneath it all, there’s a protective intention.
Sometimes that voice says: “You’re not ready.”
And maybe underneath, it’s scared you’ll fail and be humiliated.
Or maybe it says: “It’s not safe.”
Because a part of you was once deeply hurt or betrayed, and doesn’t want to feel that pain again.
So what if we listened?
What if we stopped resisting, and started understanding?
For me, my healing work became infinitely deeper when I integrated both spirituality and psychology.
Studying Kabbalah for over 12 years grounded me spiritually. But adding in somatic work, nervous system regulation, polyvagal theory, parts work — that gave me the language to understand what was happening inside my body, not just my soul.
And I want to say this:
There is no single path to healing. But for me, the most expansive growth has come from pulling from different lineages and weaving them together. Finding what resonates.
So today, if you’re facing internal resistance, fear, doubt — I want to leave you with this reminder:
That voice is not your enemy. It’s your opponent.
And just like on the soccer field, the opponent is what sharpens your skill.
It reveals where you still need to grow.
It shows you the next layer of your healing.
It’s not trying to destroy you — it’s trying to evolve you.
We can’t control the existence of challenges.
But we can choose how we meet them.
We can choose to let them birth a higher version of us or we can choose to entertain the victim narrative that life is happening to me instead of FOR me.
Because the goal isn’t to have a challenge-free life.
It’s to be able to meet life’s challenges with grace, with tools, with devotion to our growth.
Thank you for spending these minutes with me today.
If this episode resonated, I’d love for you to share it with someone who needs a reminder that their inner chatter has meaning. And as always, keep growing, keep feeling, keep choosing your healing.
Until next time
Minutes on Growth 