Monday Morning Coach Archives - Creative Power of Words

The Creative Power of Your Words

Words have creative—almost prophetic—power.  I was reminded again this past week of just how true that is in a couple of significantly different situations.

The first involved a dog toy.  That’s right, a dog toy.  As those who know me are aware, I am a dog lover.  We have three of them and I can’t resist buying a great dog toy when I see one.  Recently I bought a multi-colored, hard rubber toy I call the “knot ball” because it looks like a knot of multi-colored rubber bands. 

My little dog Snowflake is notorious for taking toys and hiding or burying them so when it comes time to play, there isn’t a toy to be found.  Such was the case last week when I went searching for the knot ball.  I searched high and low, inside and out, unconsciously repeating to myself “I can’t find that ball!”  “She’s lost the knot ball.”  On and on it went for a couple of days as I searched under beds, behind couches and even outside, checking all of her favorite hiding places.  Still no ball. 

Saturday morning it dawned on me that I had been “affirming” with my self-talk that the ball was lost and I couldn’t find it.  So on a wild whim (you know where this is going!) I decided to change what I was saying to myself about the ball.  Instead of “it’s lost” and “I can’t find it” I simply said to myself, “I will easily locate the knot ball” or something to that effect.  I kid you not, voila!  In an instant I looked down and there it was, in a place I had already searched, in a room I’m in 10 times a day!!  My words had become prophecy…first affirming that I couldn’t find the ball, then affirming that I easily located it.  In both cases, true.

Now you might be saying, “Okay Betty, but I’m not looking for a dog toy, I’m looking for a job!” (Or something else much more important in the grander scheme of things).  But the principle is that your words and what you’re saying to yourself about the situation are either affirming the limitation (and creating more of it), or affirming the goal you are seeking to achieve and moving you toward it. 

The other situation involved someone I was talking with (prospective client) about her struggle to “renovate her life.”  We talked about the various steps she might take to begin moving toward what she wanted and how even something as seemingly insignificant as clearing out her junk drawer could be the very thing she needed to do to start getting her life unstuck.  Her words (again prophetic) spoke volumes about how she was keeping herself stuck.  She said, “I don’t really feel motivated to do it because it’s just me.”  “Just me….just me…just me?” 

I pointed out how that belief that “it’s just me” as if “me” is so insignificant I don’t really count, might possibly have something to do with where she was stuck.  She had quite literally put herself, her life, her sense of value on the discount clearance table and even she didn’t consider herself valuable enough to buy!  How would another person, including a prospective employer, friend, mate, partner, possibly view her more highly than she was viewing herself?

Wise men and women through the ages have preached this sermon:  Words are creative and powerful; be careful or at least conscious of how you use them!

This week I invite you to recognize the prophetic power of your words, and realize that we can use them to either create or destroy, so it behooves us to use them wisely.  I invite you to consider eliminating the following words and phrases from your vocabulary and begin replacing them with their positive opposites in 2010.

Change…

“I am” or “I’m not” followed by any limiting description, to “I am” followed by a description of the goal or vision you’re creating.

 Example:  “I’m fat” or “I’m not talented enough” to “I am happy and energetic at my ideal weight” or “I have the talent and ability to do whatever I put my mind to!”

“I can’t” to “I can” or “I do”…

 “I should” to “I choose to” or “I want to”….

“I never” to “I now”…

 “I’ll try” to “I’ll do what I can.”

“Yes but”, followed by an excuse or explanation to “Yes, and” followed by the vision you have or the new behavior you’re establishing.

 “I always” to “Up until now and…” describing the new situation you’re creating.

We’ve all done it.  We’ve used words carelessly, thoughtlessly, unconsciously to imprison ourselves and others.  We repeat negative mantras so often we come to believe they are true.  We label others as this or that and then look for evidence to support the label.  As we move into the final week of January 2010 I challenge you to wake up and recognize the creative power of your words to either build or tear down the life you envision for yourself in this still new year.

Make this week a masterpiece!