The Power of Words

The power of words. 

Choosing the right word might make all the difference in how you see the world, and what you accomplish. 

I’ve recently come across three examples of this. Just by substituting one word for another, it might help you to better understand a situation. 

And for But- An example of this for me would be:

“I’d like to eat a cookie, but doing so would cost me too many points.”

vs.

“I’d like to eat a cookie, and by doing so I will go over my daily points 
allowance.”

For me using “and” doesn’t give me so much of an out. I might be able to convince myself to use extra points for the cookie when I say “but,” however for some reason using “and” helps me to keep track of the bigger picture. 

Because for Despite-​this idea came from Gretchen Rubin. This might help you better understand why you might be struggling with something. 

“Despite reaching my goal weight, I continue to struggle with weight gain.”

vs.

“Because I reached my goal weight I continue to struggle with weight gain.”

What I learned from this is that I have difficulty with the “finish line” mentality. As much as you would think that reaching your goal weight would be all that was needed to maintain a loss, for me I can’t rest on the laurels of my win. I need to continue on the journey not looking for an end in sight, and seem to have more success this way. 

Will for Try-​this is an old Dr. Laura trick. She never accepts “I’ll try,” for an answer. Just like the word “but,” it seems to give you an out.

“I’ll try to lose weight.”

vs

I will lose weight.”

The second example using the word “will” seems much more empowering to me. Follow that with some specific actionable goals, and your chance of achieving weight loss has been magnified. 

Just changing the words you use might lead toward better understanding of yourself and others. If you catch yourself using “but,” “try” or “despite,”switch it up a little, and substitute “and,” “will,” and “because.”

Post Script- I thought I would switch it up a little in this post using different colors and sizes of font in hopes of making the text more easily read. It’s about killed me switching back and forth, and I’m glad I did so, I will do it again, because it pushed me out of my comfort zone.