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Be intentional about your word choices. Words - the building blocks of thought - have power, and they can either serve us or sabotage us (or others).
Here is my very short list of words to eliminate from our vocabularies, along with suggested words to use instead.
Eliminate: can't, cannot
Replace with: I can
Eliminate: try
Replace with: I will, I intend
Eliminate: should
Replace with: I could, I want, I choose
Eliminate: always, never
Replace with: sometimes, often, frequently, rarely, usually, occasionally
Which word(s) might be holding you back?
Here is my challenge: Pick one of the above words-to-eliminate and remove it from your vocabulary for the next week. Substitute one of the suggested empowering words instead.
Watch what happens.
Note: This article is reproduced from Connie's LifeWork Letter, May 2006 issue. To subscribe to this complimentary monthly newsletter, and/or to view archived issues, click here.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Power of Intention
Some years ago, there was a wonderful adventure movie playing in theatres - Romancing the Stone starring Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas. Set in Colombia, the story involves Jack T. Colton, a soldier of fortune (Douglas) and Joan Wilder, a novelist (Turner) who, for different reasons, have partnered together on a treasure hunt to find an enormous heart-shaped emerald called El Corazon.
In one scene, they are being chased by a small army of bad guys and end up in a tight place, with the army shooting at them from behind and a deep, wide canyon with a raging river far below in front of them. They are faced with a choice: cross the chasm somehow or be captured or shot. They have already attempted to use the rickety footbridge to cross the chasm, but it is too rotten and it breaks.
In one bold moment, Joan Wilder sizes up the situation, grabs hold of a thick vine, takes a running start and swings over the wide chasm, landing safely on the other side. Jack Colton hesitates, pondering the situation, having some doubts. Then, he follows suit, but swings into the side of the opposite wall of the canyon, instead of landing at the top. He then has to scramble up the side of the cliff while being shot at from the other side.
The difference in their two landings was not due to their skill levels, experience, physical abilities, or gender. In fact, the deck was stacked heavily in Colton's favor. The difference was in the degree of their intentions. Wilder was 100% intentional about reaching the other side. She just plain went for it with everything she had. Colton had some doubts and he hesitated. He was probably about 90% intentional. He made it, but with more difficulty.
In this case, the power of intention was so strong, especially for Joan Wilder, that it enabled her to overcome some enormous physical obstacles and reach her goal. What might it be like to bring that kind of full-steam-ahead-no-holding-back intention to your next goal?
Read More About It
Two of my favorite books on this subject are...
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If you have enjoyed this post, please share your comments below and then visit my Web site and subscribe to my monthly e-newsletter.
In one scene, they are being chased by a small army of bad guys and end up in a tight place, with the army shooting at them from behind and a deep, wide canyon with a raging river far below in front of them. They are faced with a choice: cross the chasm somehow or be captured or shot. They have already attempted to use the rickety footbridge to cross the chasm, but it is too rotten and it breaks.
In one bold moment, Joan Wilder sizes up the situation, grabs hold of a thick vine, takes a running start and swings over the wide chasm, landing safely on the other side. Jack Colton hesitates, pondering the situation, having some doubts. Then, he follows suit, but swings into the side of the opposite wall of the canyon, instead of landing at the top. He then has to scramble up the side of the cliff while being shot at from the other side.
The difference in their two landings was not due to their skill levels, experience, physical abilities, or gender. In fact, the deck was stacked heavily in Colton's favor. The difference was in the degree of their intentions. Wilder was 100% intentional about reaching the other side. She just plain went for it with everything she had. Colton had some doubts and he hesitated. He was probably about 90% intentional. He made it, but with more difficulty.
In this case, the power of intention was so strong, especially for Joan Wilder, that it enabled her to overcome some enormous physical obstacles and reach her goal. What might it be like to bring that kind of full-steam-ahead-no-holding-back intention to your next goal?
Read More About It
Two of my favorite books on this subject are...
- The Power of Intention, Wayne W. Dyer. Hay House, 2004.
- The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent, Esther and Jerry Hicks (The Teachings of Abraham), Hay House, 2006.
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If you have enjoyed this post, please share your comments below and then visit my Web site and subscribe to my monthly e-newsletter.
Callings Revisited - Passion vs. Security
In an earlier blog entry, I mentioned the book Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life by Gregg Levoy. On May 4th, I had the opportunity to meet Gregg Levoy and to hear him speak on this topic. Many things he said caught my attention and resonated with me, including his discussion of why people sometimes turn away from their Callings.
A Calling can be loud and clear, or it can be as soft as a whisper or as subtle as resonating with a song playing on the radio. And sometimes, once heard, a Calling is willingly and intentionally followed. Sometimes, but not always. Levoy cited Jonah (from the biblical story of Jonah and the Whale) as the ultimate example of a man who resisted his Calling, who ignored it, hid from it, fled from it until he was cornered and had no other recourse but to take it up.
Many of us, in our own ways, flee from our Callings. We don't pay attention to the invitations. We ignore the signs. We procrastinate in our responses. We deliberate. We even identify what we want and then actively go in the opposite direction. Human nature? Yes. But why?
This behavior, Levoy posits, may be the result of an inner struggle between passion and security - the desire to follow a Calling versus the need to be physically, emotionally, or financially safe. This struggle, Levoy says, is what causes us to ignore, or sometimes actively push away, our Calling - the next step we are called to take in fulfilling our own unique destiny.
Once caught up in this struggle between passion and security, what can we do about it? If we are caught up in such a struggle, it is probably because there is some degree of risk involved - either perceived or real. And if a situation is risky, then what is required of us?
First, information. We need as much information as we can gather in order to make an informed decision. This step includes the possibility of constructing a safety net to catch us if we fall.
Second, courage. The feel-the-fear-and-do-it-anyway kind.
Third, faith and trust. Faith in ourselves and a trust that the Calling we are drawn to follow is the truest expression of our authentic self.
Fourth, willingness. A willingness to take the risk and trust that it will work out in our best interest.
Fifth, intention. The intention to commit oneself wholeheartedly to following that Calling.
What is your Calling? Can you hear it? Are you moving towards it, ignoring it, or running away from it? If you are ignoring or running away from it, at which step are you bogged down, and what might you do to get beyond it?
*****************************************************************************
If you have enjoyed this post, please share your comments below and then visit my Web site and subscribe to my monthly e-newsletter.
A Calling can be loud and clear, or it can be as soft as a whisper or as subtle as resonating with a song playing on the radio. And sometimes, once heard, a Calling is willingly and intentionally followed. Sometimes, but not always. Levoy cited Jonah (from the biblical story of Jonah and the Whale) as the ultimate example of a man who resisted his Calling, who ignored it, hid from it, fled from it until he was cornered and had no other recourse but to take it up.
Many of us, in our own ways, flee from our Callings. We don't pay attention to the invitations. We ignore the signs. We procrastinate in our responses. We deliberate. We even identify what we want and then actively go in the opposite direction. Human nature? Yes. But why?
This behavior, Levoy posits, may be the result of an inner struggle between passion and security - the desire to follow a Calling versus the need to be physically, emotionally, or financially safe. This struggle, Levoy says, is what causes us to ignore, or sometimes actively push away, our Calling - the next step we are called to take in fulfilling our own unique destiny.
Once caught up in this struggle between passion and security, what can we do about it? If we are caught up in such a struggle, it is probably because there is some degree of risk involved - either perceived or real. And if a situation is risky, then what is required of us?
First, information. We need as much information as we can gather in order to make an informed decision. This step includes the possibility of constructing a safety net to catch us if we fall.
Second, courage. The feel-the-fear-and-do-it-anyway kind.
Third, faith and trust. Faith in ourselves and a trust that the Calling we are drawn to follow is the truest expression of our authentic self.
Fourth, willingness. A willingness to take the risk and trust that it will work out in our best interest.
Fifth, intention. The intention to commit oneself wholeheartedly to following that Calling.
What is your Calling? Can you hear it? Are you moving towards it, ignoring it, or running away from it? If you are ignoring or running away from it, at which step are you bogged down, and what might you do to get beyond it?
*****************************************************************************
If you have enjoyed this post, please share your comments below and then visit my Web site and subscribe to my monthly e-newsletter.
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