USES OF POSITIVE LANGUAGE

                                             WHEN YOU SPEAK IN POSITIVITY

                 WHEN I SPEAK ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF USING POSITIVE LANGUAGE TO MOVE YOU TOWARD YOUR GOALS, SOME OF YOU MAY BE WONDERING, "JEFF" DO I SAY THESE POSITIVE WORDS TO MYSELF OR DO I ALSO SAY THESE WORDS TO OTHER PEOPLE?. YOU MAY BE AFRAID THAT IF YOU TELL OTHER ABOUT YOUR GOALS, THEY'LL THINK YOU'RE BEING CONCEITED - AND THEY MAY EVEN LAUGH AT YOU.

                ALLOW ME TO SUGGEST  A FEW GUIDELINES IN THIS AREA, WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THERE ARE NO "HARD AND FAST" RULES - AND YOU SHOULD DO WHAT WORDS BEST FOR YOU.

               TO BEGIN IWTH, USE POSITIVE SELF-TALK OFTEN AS POSSIBLE. IN MY VIEW, THE MORE MERRIER. AFTER ALL, YOU'RE TALKING TO YOURSELF, SO YOU DON'T HAVETO WORRY ABOUT OTHERS HEARING YOUR COMMENTS. THE KEY IS THAT YOU HEAR THIS POSITIVE INPUT AGAIN AND AGAIN... AND IT BECOMES DEEPLY ROOTED IN YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS MIND.

            WHETHER TO SHARE YOUR GOALS WITH OTHER PEOPLE IS A MUCH TRICKIER ISSUE. ONE THING I'VE LEARNED IS THIS. NEVER DISCUSS YOUR GOALS WITH NEGATIVE POEPLE. ALL THEY'LL DO IS ARGUE AND POINT OUT ALL THE REASONS WHY YOU WON'T BE SUCCESSFUL. WJHO NEEDS THAT ? OFTEN, THESE "NEGATIVE NELLIES" ARE THE ONES WHO DO LITTLE OR NOTHING IN THEIR OWN LIVES. THEY HAVE NO GOALS OR DREAMS - AND THEY DON'T WANT ANYONE ELSE TO SUCCEED, EITHER.

            

YET, THERE ARE SOME INSTANCES WHEN YOU CAN BENEFIT BY TELLING OTHERS ABOUT YOUT GOALS. FIRST OF ALL, MAKE SURE THAT YOU'RE SPEAKING WITH SOMEONE WHO'S EXTEMELY POSITIVE AND TOTALLY SUPPORTIVE OF YOUR EFFORTS. THIS SHOULD BE THE KIND OF PERSON WHO WOULD BE ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTED IF YOU ACHIEVED THIS GOAL... AND WOULD DO ANYTHING IN HIS OR HER POWER TO ASSIST YOU. YOU MAY HAVE A FRIEND OR COLLEAGUE THAT FITS THIS ROLE- OR CERTAIN FAMILY MEMBERS.

 

IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT TO SHARE YOUR GOAL WITH OTHERS WHO ARE WORKING WITH YOU TO ACHIEVE THAT OUTCOME. FOR EXAMPLE, IF A SALE MANAGER WANTS TO INCREASE SALES IN THE COMING YEAR BY 20 PERCENT, HE OR SHE WOULD MAKE THIS GOAL KNOWN TO EVERYONE ON THE STAFF. THEN, EVERYONE CAN WORK TOGETHER TO ACHIEVE IT.

EVEN THOUGH I'M ENCOURAGING YOU TO USE POSITIVE WORDS TO MOVE YOU TOWARD YOUR OBJECTIVES, I'M NOT SUGGESTING THAT YOU IGNORE THE OBSTACLES THAT YOU MAY FACE - OR THAT YOU DISCOURAGE FEEDBACK FROM OTHER PEOPLE. BEFORE EMBARKING ON ANY GOAL, YOU WANT TO PREPARE FOR WHAT MAY BE COMING DOWN THE ROAD. PERSONALLY, I PREFER TO DISCUSS FEEDBACK INCLUDES CREATIVE SOLUTIONS TO THE DIFFICULTIES THAT MAY ARISE.

FURTHEREMORE, I'LL ONLY DISCUSS MY PLANS WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE QUALIFIED TO RENDER AN INTELLIGENT OPINION ON THE SUBJECT. IF YOU'RE THINKING OF GOING INTO YOUR OWN BUSINESS, IT SIMPLY MAKES NO SENSE TO CONSULT WITH YOUR UNCLE ELMER, ESPECIALLY IF UNCLE ELMER IS NEGATIVE AND WORKED FOR SOMEONE ELSE ALL OF HIS LIFE. WHAT DOES HE KNEW ABOUT OWNING A BUSINESS? HE'LL GIVE YOU A LIST OF REASONS NOT TO GO INTO BUSINESS FOR YOURSELF. AFTER YOUR LITTLE CHAT WITH UNCLE ELMER, YOU'LL START TO DOUBT YOURSELF. YOU DON'T NEED THAT KIND OF HELP!

👀WORDS AND ACCOUNTABLITY👀

THERE'S ANOTHER REASON WHY, IN SOME CASES, YOU MIGHT DECIDE TO SHARE YOUR GOAL WITH SOMEONE ELSE. AND THAT'S FOR ACCOUNTABILITY, IN OTHER WORDS, IF I TELL OTHERS I'M GOING TO DO SOMETHING, THENI HAVE TO GO AHEAD AND DO IT! THINK OF THIS APPROACH AS "BURNING YOUR BRIDGES".

LET ME ASSURE YOU I'M NOT A BELIEVE IN "BURNING BRIDGES" WHEN IT COMES TO PERSONAL OR BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS. BUT SOMETIMES THE ONLY WAY TO MOVE FORWARD IN LIFE - AND TO ACHIEVE AN AMBITIOUS GOAL - IS TO CUTT OFF ALL AVENUES OF RETREAT.

THIS CAN BE A VERY USEFUL STRATEGY. WE MAY TELL A FRIEND THAT WE'RE GOING TO WORK OUT AT THE GYM THREE TIMES THIS WEEK - KNOWING THAT AT THE END OF THE WEEK, THIS FRIEND WILL AS WHETHER WE DID, IN FACT, GO TO THE GYM THREE TIMES!

AN EVEN MORE DRAMATIVE EXAMPLE IS THAT OF WELL - KNOW MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER ZIG ZIGLAR. ZIGLAR DECIDED TO GO ON A DIET AND REDUCED HIS WEIGHT FROM 202 POUND TO 165 POUNDS. AT THE SAME TIME, HE WAS WRITING HIS BOOK SEE YOU AT THE TOP.

ZIGLAR INCLUDED A STATEMENT THAT HE GOT HIS WEIGHT DOWN TO 165 POUNDS. THIS WAS 10 MONTHS BEFORE THE BOOK WENT TO PRESS. AND THEN HE PLACED AN ORDER WITH THE PRINTER FOR 25000 COPIES! NOW, REMEMBER, AT THE TIME HE WROTE THESE WORDS, ZIGLAR ACTUALLY WEIGHED 202. HE PUT HIS CREDIBILITY ON THE LINE WITH 25000 PEOPLE!

BY INCLUDING A STATEMENT THAT HE WEIGHED 165 POUNDS, ZIGLAR KNEW THAT HE HAD TO LOSE 37 POUNDS THE BOOK WAS PRINTED. AND, HE DID!

USE THIS STRATEGY SELECTIVELY. LIMIT IT TO THOSE GOALS THAT ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO YOU-AND WHERE YOU'RE COMMITTED TO GO THE DISTANCE. IS IT RISKY? YOU BE IT IS. BUT IT'S A TREMENDOUS MOTIVATOR!

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