The Power of Words

[photo credit: kidblog.org]

Tell yourself something often enough, and you’re bound to believe it. Tony Robbins once said, “The words that we attach to our experience become our experience, regardless of whether it’s objectively accurate or not.” What does that mean, exactly? Well, when on a diet, saying “I can’t eat that brownie,” which implies denial and restriction, will make a person feel deprived.  On the other hand, saying “I choose not to eat the brownie” implies options and, therefore, empowerment.

OK, you still might feel a little deprived, but the focus is on your choice: your reason for denying yourself that treat, which has a great reward. Imagine what weeks of saying “I choose to” instead of “I can’t” might do for your thought patterns which, ultimately, affect your belief system. And what about stress? Let’s face it, life can be very challenging today. What if, instead of saying “This is killing me,” you tried saying, “This ‘feels like’ it’s killing me, but I’ll make it through?” The second validates the difficulty, but doesn’t grant it the power to destroy you.

We use thousands of words a day. If we want to be successful and happy we need to choose them carefully. Lao Tzu said, “Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habit. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.” Our words and thoughts work in a constant cycle, influencing outlooks and outcomes. To create a life we can love, we have to think about what we say, especially to ourselves.