Words as Barriers

Words are very powerful, not just for the conveyance of ideas, and communication, but as a way to manifest ideas into reality. They have an energy that can attract or repel people and events, causing you to gain, or lose, what you desire.

The words you choose is a major part of the action phase. They can act as a call to action within yourself, or others… or, they can become your excuse and barrier to success.

These words are small; they’re easy to say, and come trippingly off the tongue. We often don’t realize we’re even saying them. That’s part of their power. They deceive you into thinking they are harmless, all the while robbing you of your power to create.

Here are some of them:

“Try”
This disguises itself as a noble act (“I always try my best”) but it really is just an excuse to fail gracefully (“Well, I tried…”). More than likely it means that you intend to do the least amount of effort possible; just enough to look good, but not enough to actually accomplish anything. Whenever someone tells me that they’ll ‘try’ to make one of my events, it’s usually followed up afterwards with a story of how they never “got the chance” to follow through. As Yoda said in Star Wars, “There is no try, only do or not do.”

Action: If you really don’t want to do something, don’t “try”… especially if you have no intention of following through.

Exception: When “Try” means to sample something (“Ooh, I’ll try that exotic food dish, it looks delicious!”)

“Can’t”
People often misuse this word. There are times when you are unable to do something (“I can’t go to the concert, I’ll be out of town that weekend”) but often we use it as a disempowering word. In truth, we really mean we “won’t” because we choose not to, but we replace it with “can’t” so that it appears that the blockage is outside of us, and therefore outside our control.

Action: Substitute “won’t” for “can’t” and see how your power shifts.

Exception: As stated before, when there really are things outside your control. (Just don’t promise that you’ll “try” to make the concert when you know you’ll be out of town, because you really “can’t”)

“Need”
Now there are things you need, like food and air, but when you say you “need” to do something, you are building a barrier between you and the action you mention. You say “I really need to lose weight” or “I need to quit smoking” which acknowledges the proper action to take; however, there is no real intention to do anything about it.

Action: Instead of saying what you “need” to do, clearly state what you “will” do and “when” you are going to do it.

Exception: When accessing your requirements during the planning phase (“I need a million dollars to build the structure”)

“Should”
Yeah, yeah, I know you “should”… you really “need” to choose a different word.

Action: Either commit to something or you “should” stop saying “should.”

Exception: Should there really be an exception to this?

“Would”
This is the child of “Should” and “Try”… You “would” if you “could” but you “can’t” so you “won’t”

Action: Stop acting so noble; become better than that.

Exception: If you want to dream what you “would” do if you won the lottery, have fun (just be on the lookout for great ideas; something that you really can do, even without the lottery)

“Want”
This is one of those tricky words, because during the “Desire” phase, when you’re defining what it is you “want” in life, this is a GREAT word. It’s filled with passion, and emotions help in the process of turning Desires into Results. It only becomes a barrier when you never get out of the “wanting” phase. If you always say “want” then you will always “want”; you will never “have” until you choose other words.

Action: Once you know what you “want”; set a plan of action into place to achieve it. Then do it.

Exception: Only use when defining Desires. The words we choose not only act upon our subconscious and empower or disempower us. They also act upon the minds of others as well. People may not be able to “put their finger on it” but when you use action words, they get the impression that you are a person of action. They feel that they can rely on you, and are attracted to you, because you “can” and you “will”; you’re not full of empty promises. You say what you mean, and mean what you say.

That’s called “integrity” and it goes a very, very long way.