I love words.

I am deeply, profoundly, desperately in love with words. Words are my medium for creative expression. Reading them. Writing them. Studying about them (my latest geek out is “The Secret Life of Words: English Words and Their Origins” 🤓 #nerdandproud).

 Large collections of words in one place (bookstores, libraries, *cough* my condo) create an electric reaction within my body: my heart races, my hands shake a little, I feel giddy, and I smile from ear to ear.

Words matter.

Words strung together with meaning applied gives us language. And our words have more power than we realize.

Our language, our self-talk, the words we choose…it all frames our reality, our success, our happiness.

Just like you use a “language” to program a computer, you unconsciously program yourself with the words you choose.

What’s your self talk? What words do you use to describe your life? Yourself? What do you say to yourself when you make a mistake? I dare you to tell me it “doesn’t matter” when you say any of the following:

“Ugh, I’m so stupid”

“I am such a failure”

“I’m just slow”

“I always over complicate things”

“I’m just not the kind of person who…”

“I know me, and I don’t stick to things…”

“I’ll never meet someone…”

Observe what follows phrases like:

“I always…”

“I never…”

“I am…”

And ask yourself if you would talk to your child or your best friend in the same way.

Begin to bring conscious awareness to your language and challenge yourself to try on new phrases to replace those tired old ones.

Instead of “I’m stupid, useless, unattractive, unloved, unwanted” or whatever other negative adjectives your Gremlin wants to throw at you….try on a more empowering word choice. Fill those new phrases with compassion and belief in a positive outcome, even if you don’t feel it in the moment. It isn’t about denying reality it’s just about choosing a better self-talk.

This is a more powerful shift than you can possibly imagine. Begin to bring conscious awareness to language

You may be surprised by what you discover.

Sparkle on, friends…💖

JW