Your level of success is predetermined by the words you use on a day-to-day basis. Avoid these five "failure" words.
The words that people use on a day-to-day basis determine whether they'll achieve failure or success. There are five words that, in my observation, frequently show up in the conversation of losers, much more so than in winners. Here they are:
1. Luck
While it's true that unforeseen events can affect outcomes, it's not "luck" that made the difference. It's the events. Luck had nothing to do with it.
Believing in "luck" focuses your thoughts on an imaginary construct that neither you, nor anybody else, can change or affect.
What's worse, luck is an excuse that explains away failure ("It was just bad luck") and devalues your successes. (e.g. "It was just good luck.")
2. Enemy
It's true that you have competitors, and that sometimes for you to win, they have to lose (and vice versa.) Even so, there are no enemies in business.
Enemies are something that happens in warfare, when people are killing each other. Business is about making things better, not killing people.
The moment you demonize competitors by calling them "enemies" you close off your business options. Today's competitors are often tomorrow's partners.
3. Rejection
Wouldn't it be nice if people always said "yes" to your ideas? Well, sometimes people aren't going to like your ideas, or even you personally, for that matter.
You can pathologize such events by thinking of them as "rejection" or you understand that what really happened is the other person's desires didn't match yours.
Rather than using a word that automatically makes you miserable, concentrate on changing your approach, or approaching somebody else.
4. Hate
I cringe every time I hear somebody use this word in casual conversation. At work it's usually something like: "I hate my boss" or "I hate my job."
Hate is a sick word and it creates sickness in your body. Every time you use that word, you might as well be sticking a cancer cell in your body. Seriously.
I'm not saying that you've got to be sweetness and lovey-dovey about everything, but why pollute your brain by actually hating anything or anybody?
5. But...
I'm sure you know somebody who can't say anything about any idea, plan or activity without crutching the sentence with word "but..."
It's always something like "Hey, that's a great idea, but..." or "I agree that we need to take action, but..." It's discouraging and it kills momentum.
Ironically, there's a substitute for "but" that actually creates momentum: the word "and." Try it next time a "but" is about to emerge from your mouth.
Tomorrow, I'll give you the words that, in my observation, signal that a person is a winner rather than a loser. So stay tuned.
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