2 Words to Change Your Life

Let me ask you, do you take note of the language you use on a regular basis? Have a look at the sentences below. What do you notice? How do they make you feel?

-”I don’t know how to set up a new email account.”

-”I can’t lift that amount of weight.”

-”I don’t know what goes on a resume.”

-”I have to learn how to update my books but I have never done that before.”

-”I want to start a new career, but I am not as young as I use to be.”

Now, let’s tweak these sentences a bit. Re-read them. Do they feel different?

-”I don’t know how to set up a new email account, yet.”

-”I can’t lift that amount of weight, yet.”

-”I don’t know what goes on a resume, yet.”

-”I have to learn how to update my books, and I’ll need to find a resource guide.”

-”I want to start a new career, and people my age do this every day.”

I am sure you spot the difference. The power of these two little words is huge!

The feeling of impossibility, negativity and “stuckness” in the first few sentences is palpable. There is a finality to these sentences that makes us think and feel that these statements are true and factual.

In reality, the truth is that we’re likely scared to learn something new, to take the risks that come with aiming for that new career or we feel like a task is just too large, so we might as well not even try, for fear of failure. And what does that get us? Stuck. Doing what we’ve always done.

NOW, consider the “edited” sentences. The feeling of movement towards the goals and the possibilities are evident. Adding the words “yet” and “and” removes that judgement-filled feeling of our inability to succeed and opens the door to us feeling like we’re on our way to figuring things out. Just like we’ve done before. You didn’t always know how to do the things you do now, right?

If you disagree, were you born walking? No, you crawled, you stood, you took a step and fell down. Do you judge a baby for falling while they’re learning to walk? Heck no. It’s part of the process, right?

Then why judge yourself and add such a feeling of impossibility because you don’t know how to set up a new email account?

Add the word “yet” to the end of your sentences. Also, when you feel yourself starting to “yeah, but”, stop and re-word your sentence to create a statement that includes an “and”-that way, you’ll have figured out how to keep moving forward with the challenge you’re working to overcome.

Start today with these two little words….they just might change your life.

In kindness and in health,

Deanna