Watch Your Language!

The words we use and how they can affect our anxiety and our relationships are so important and under-rated. Bruce Lee famously quoted that “words cast spells and that’s why they’re called spelling.” What is for certain is that our vocabulary can actually contribute to our anxiety identity. By swapping disempowering words with more empowering ones, we can give our healing a supercharge! Just by changing three key words,  “try,” “but,” and “hope” we can turn our lives around.

When we say “I’ll TRY to do it,” we’re setting ourselves up for failure because we’re not fully committing to the task. To use the word “commit” instead means we are showing perseverance and will to succeed. Just by switching that word over, we are making a huge step in our healing journey.

The second word that sabotages us is “but.” When we talk about something we want to achieve and add “but” on the end, we create a block and leave to door open to a curve-ball. By replacing “but” with “and” we are acknowledging the multiple opportunities and opening up possibilities instead of shutting them down. This can make a big impact on the potential growth we can make.

The last word to slay from our conversations is “hope.” When we say hope, we are welcoming passive procrastination. Let’s swap that word for “believe.” To believe in ourselves we are taking responsibility and control over our anxiety and building up confidence to tackle life’s obstacles head-on. Our words have such power on our reality!

Research at Loyola Marymount University in LA used 12 steps to compassionate communication with their Executive MBA students and had successful results, with professionals reporting to be building trust, positivity, co-operation and empathy with their co-workers from following this technique:

1. Relax
2. Stay present
3. Silence inner voices
4. Be positive
5. Focus on inner values
6. Recall a pleasant memory
7. Maintain eye contact
8. Be complimentary and express appreciation
9. Speak with warmth in your voice
10. Speak slowly
11. Speak briefly
12. Listen carefully

“Language shapes our behavior and each word we use is imbued with multitudes of personal meaning. The right words spoken in the right way can bring us love, money and respect, while the wrong words—or even the right words spoken in the wrong way—can lead to a country to war. We must carefully orchestrate our speech if we want to achieve our goals and bring our dreams to fruition.”

—Dr. Andrew Newberg, Words Can Change Your Brain

By changing our language we are encouraging a life that is anxiety and sabotage free. You’ve got this!  I am an accredited Neurolinguistic Programming Master and Hypnotherapist and can help you to start working towards solutions and living out life dreams.  Click here for more information: www.andreafortune.com.au

Reference

Newburg, A. and Walman, N. R. (date) Words Can Change Your Brain, Penguin US