| by Dr. Jeffrey Lant You've heard it and said it since you were a kid: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." That's definitely true if you are the recipient of the words... but absolutely wrong if you are the sender. You see, language completely defines who you are, what you will do, and the level of success you can achieve. If "you are what you eat," it is also absolutely true "You are what you say." That's why I've identified 7 key phrases that are holding you back, 7 phrases which you must IMMEDIATELY eradicate from your speech as they threaten your success! 1) "I'll do it tomorrow." Want success? Then understand that "tomorrow" is the enemy of "today." How many people do you know who have a "manana" mentality, always willing to put off until tomorrow that which could so easily be done today. People who succeed in life are people who do today what can be done today, never allowing themselves the luxury of postponement. These words, then, must be the first to expunge ... and never allow your brain to think. "Carpe diem" must forever be your guide. 2) "I'll make do." Now hear this: successful people never "make do." Making do is for people who have convinced themselves that they will be happy with less. This, of course, is the direct opposite of what truly successful people think, say, and do. To the successful, "making do" means imposing restrictions on who you are and what you could achieve if you made achievement, rather than its opposite, your objective. No great thing, no worthy thing, no meaningful or awesome thing has ever emerged when the person in charge said these words. So banish them at once from your vocabulary; if you keep them you will surely get the less you say satisfies and nothing more. Is that what you want? 3) "I'm a survivor." Initially this may seem positive, but upon further thought you will come to see how invidious this phrase really is. No successful person is merely a survivor; such people do not merely continue to exist (which is what survival means). Instead, they ascend beyond mere existence to the superior state of flourishing. Thus, instead of touting the mere ability to get by, give yourself a better objective by saying: "I am not merely a survivor. Instead I flourish." (Note: Floreat Etona is the motto of England's most prestigious and influential school, the school that has provided generations of leaders. Let the slogan work its magic for you, too.) 4) "I'm fixing to do it." Take a close look at these words. They do not say "I am doing it." They say "I'm thinking about getting around to doing it." Now, it should be obvious that truly successful people don't brag about how they are "about" to do something. No, indeed. These people, the people we want to be like and emulate, are people who are masters of "do". And you must be, too. Drop "fixin" from your vocabulary forthwith. 5) "Working on it." Here's another deceptive phrase which makes non English speakers scratch their heads in bafflement. The phrase, you see, seems to mean one thing, but actually means quite another. "Working on it" means the complete reverse. It does not mean that a thing is being attended to, completion in sight. It means, instead, that the thing in question is not being attended to, has not been started, and that no completion date can be seen because none has been set. Oh, my! "Working on it" is a phrase beloved of procrastinators, the slothful and slow-walkers worldwide because it gives them cover for the work they are assuredly are not doing and the success they will not achieve because of it. 6) "It's good enough for me." This potent phrase has destroyed success for millions worldwide, generation after generation. Success means constant application, work, a vivid striving after success and the thrill that comes from having achieved it. By contrast, the minute you utter the word "enough" you have signalled an end to absolutely everything necessary to achieve success, including success itself. "It's good enough" could hardly be worse for your aspirations, strangling success in its cradle and leaving you with crumbs. "There is nothing quite so bad," wrote the insightful Oscar Wilde, "as that which is good enough." This is why you must banish this corrosive phrase at once. Only the good can be good enough for you! *7) "I could never do that." Are you one of the legions of people who use these killer words? Be advised: success cannot flourish in this inhospitable terrain. People who demand success empower themselves by creating an environment where the goal of success is never undercut by the words they use and the thoughts they think. For such people, the keynote is positive potential, not instantaneous death by your own hand. You see, if you say you cannot do the thing in question, then most assuredly you will not achieve that thing. As Henry Ford, master of the practical, the richest man of his time, rightly said: "You think you can. You think you can't. Either way you're right." Last Words Success at the best of times is generally difficult to achieve. Why, then, make it even more difficult by sabotaging yourself, diminishing success by empowering failure? Your thoughts, your words are your realities. Negative words, restricting words, words that sabotage rather than improve and inspire must be rooted out and destroyed. YOU must create for yourself an environment where the total focus, including every word you utter, facilitates achievement and does not handicap it. Start by eradicating these 7 invidious phrases, replacing them with those that enrich, improve... and never impede. At once, your trek to success becomes decidedly easier. Yes, you are on your way! This astonishing phrase is dynamite, a sure-fire indicator that the person who thinks and utters it will have the most meager portion of success. In short, it undermines, sabotages and otherwise strangles the very possibility of success. What stimulates success is the keen desire to be better, to have better, to live better. |
