Tweet

Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones – But Words Will Never Hurt Me!

Guest post by: Pat Mussieux

Article Overview: To grow your business, you must grow yourself. I ask corporate leaders all the time, "What are you doing to grow your people?" As entrepreneurs, ask yourself the question, "What are YOU doing to grow YOU?" As individuals, what are you doing to become the best YOU?

Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones – But Words Will Never Hurt Me!

Do you remember this little chant from our earlier days? I can remember, so very well, a lot of the teasing that I took as a young child. I had reddish hair, a ton of freckles - I was shorter than most people, everywhere (it seemed). I can also remember how the teasing hurt. How we feel about ourselves - our self-esteem - our sense of self-worth - our self-image - this is all formed at a very young age.

I know, from the many workshops that I have facilitated over the past 25 years, that we, as adults, carry these 'tapes' in our head right to this very day. Unless you are very aware of your thinking and your vocabulary, you, too, can be saying things to others (and to yourself, still) that hurt you. Words are a powerful weapon. Our words are a direct result of what we are thinking:

"Our present thoughts determine our future." - Lou Tice.

In the workshop this past weekend, Dr. Brad was presenting information to help us, as public speakers, grow our business. The session was very interactive. It was interesting to me to see how often he would zero in on one's vocabulary - the words that were being used to describe oneself - words such as: hope, think, might, perhaps, wish, maybe. "These are weak words", he would say (and I couldn't agree more!).

To grow your business, you must grow yourself.

I ask corporate leaders all the time, "What are you doing to grow your people?" As entrepreneurs, ask yourself the question, "What are YOU doing to grow YOU?" As individuals, what are you doing to become the best YOU?

It all starts with the way we think. Our words represent our thoughts and beliefs - and then we go out and act like the person we believe ourselves to be.

To grow our business as a public speaker, it is essential that we use power words in the process. Some of the questions we were discussing include:

1. What are you passionate about?

2. What are you best at doing?

3. What is your legacy, or calling?

4. What are you going to give up/let go of to make it work?

As you answer these questions, become very aware of the words you use. In the workshop, that's when we were hearing words such as: hope, think, might, etc. I agree with Dr. Brad - these are weak words!

When I was on my trip around the world, I paid particular attention to mothers and children. I listened to the conversations and, in particular, to the exchange of words. So, whether it was young entrepreneur in Viet Nam who told himself, on a daily basis, that he COULD grow his business (selling snakes and turtles to tourists) - to young gal in Iceland, learning a new dance from my friend, Anne - it's all in the power of the words being used.

"I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet." - Mohandas K. Gandhi

"Awareness is the master aptitude", said Dr. Brad. I concur. My updated version of the old expression would now read: Sticks and stones may break my bones and words will definitely hurt me. So, watch your words!

The beauty in all of this is that WE control our thoughts - we can change our core beliefs - we have the power. We can change those 'old tapes' in our head to become positive, up-lifting, affirming and forward thinking.

I know that I am a 'work in progress'. This is a 'do-it-yourself' project for me. I am constantly aware of my thinking and my vocabulary. I commit to putting brain in gear before I put my mouth in motion.

What about you? What is your level of awareness when it comes to your vocabulary - especially when you are speaking about your passion, your talents, your unique abilities?

Assignment

1. Stop and think BEFORE you speak any time this week. Become very quiet and aware of what words are beginning to form in your mind.

2. When it comes to work, does your vocabulary represent your passion, your talents and your unique gifts - or, are you practicing false humility?

3. When it comes to you, as an individual, does your vocabulary uplift and inspire?

4. What is one change you can make, beginning today, to incorporate more power words into your vocabulary? What difference will that make - especially if are you a coach or a public speaker?

Do some of these exercises and I guarantee that you will start to live your best life. When you try new things, you are developing the confidence and courage to move forward and invent the life you truly want to live.

Related Articles
  Words Can Make A Difference
  The Perception Principle Powers Positivism
  They Sure Make Oakland Look Like Paradise!
  Employee Motivation, Don Imus, and Team Building: Five Secrets of Motivated Teams
  40-Year Old Communication Myth Busted, Words Not Body Language, Are the Foundation of Successful Communication
  Bullying - From The Playground To The Workplace
  Balancing Act
  Tips on Taking Advantage of The YouTube Juggernaut
  5 Reasons Why You Need To Take Daily Breaks While Working At Home
  The Fireman's Pole First, Kindergarten Next.
  Handling Irate Customers Allow Them to Vent
  Hurt Feelings vs. Hurt Heart
  When You Feel Hurt By Your Partner
  Tips to help you Rank Well on Search Engines
  When the Going Gets Tough ....
  Stand for something - not just anything, something meaningful
  Making Soup from Stones
  Releasing the past
  Giving Yourself Permission To Take A Break From Your At Home Business
  Let's Talk About Designing Your Very First Inviting Brand

Article Tags: confidence and courage, motivation, Pat Mussieux, positive thinking, weak words



Related Forum Posts
Ad words - And I forgot... you could give Google Ad Words a try. I've used that in the past and was never able to get my click rate below 20 cents, but perhaps you'll have better luck. With Google Ad Words, your ad (which you must make sure you write properly) will send people to your website, so it's a must have.
Re: How To Drive Traffic To Your Site Through Our Forums - Thanks for this post, it has been bothering my mind on how I can generate traffic to my blog site and now you have point me to the right direction. Words cannot express my joy for this post. Thanks.
Re: I call my invention "The Wheel" but so far I've been unable - Words words words The problem our friend has here is that he thought he was inventing a Wheel, when in reality he has a designed a perfectly good junction for incoming and outgoing pipes used all over the world - most often made of brinks and concrete in the same shape Isn't innovation grate, sorry great!
Re: Hit or Miss: Dancejam - This is a list of some of the video sharing sites -- Web sites in this category include: * AniBOOM * AtomUploads (part of AtomFilms) * BGVIP.TV * Blinkx * Blip.tv * Break.com * Buzznet * Crackle * Dailymotion * EngageMedia * Facebook * Famecast * Flickr * GameVideos.com * Gawkk * GodTube * GoFish no more uploading. * Google Video * Hulu * iFilm * imeem * JibJab * Kewego * Liveleak * MegaVideo * Metacafe * MSN Soapbox * Myspace * MyToons * MyVideo * OneWorldTV * Ourmedia * pandora tv * Peekvid.com (closed) * Photobucket * PHPmotion * Rambler Vision * ReelTime.com * RuTube * Sapo Videos (only portuguese) * Sevenload * Stage6 (closed) * TroopTube * Tudou (Chinese) * Twango * Vbox7 * Veoh * Viddler * Vimeo * Vuze * Yahoo! Video * YouTube * Vidoosh (Iranian) Those are just some of the better known sites. Chris
Re: Looking for partners to start career consulting business - Hi Mike, 1) I'm moving this to the Looking For section 2) I think a good start would be to seek out local, potential competing or related organizations/companies in your area. Universities, job centres, head hunters, HR professionals...etc. [quote:34k2gxrf]It will target professionals who want to start working at executives or higher level positions but lack necessary experience.[/quote:34k2gxrf] And I think it'll definitely help if you align your products/services with your target customer group. i.e. How do you plan to seek out this group? -------> Find the necessary talent that can accomplish this. i.e. Providing internship --------> Training in-house? Or training outsourced? Again, seek talent that aligns with your objectives. Break down what your business operations would be like, then seek the appropriate talent to cover that area. Of course, you don't want to give up too much equity by seeking out too many partners. Usually lower number of founders the more likely the start-up will survive. Good luck


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

20 MORE Must-Have Search Engine Marketing Tools

How To Improve Your CTA (Call To Action)

10 Golden rules to survive the Global Crisis

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.