By Kate Ellis,ccht
Did you know you are empowering and disempowering yourself with every thought, word or body posture? Your subconscious mind is an obedient servant, it believes everything you say, unconditionally. The subconscious allows you to smoothly operate in the world. For example: You do not need to remember how to drive your car every time you enter the vehicle, you just stick the key in the ignition and go. The ego or conscious portion of your mind deals with the world outside of you, and the subconscious allows you to react without thought.
Words and language are designed to describe. We learn specifically what each word means in our youth, then filed into the subconscious. If you are describing something, and event, feeling, and you use an improper word, there will be an emotional/physiological reaction.
Are you aware of this? No, Perhaps?
Let’s do an experiment:
Say out loud; “I have a problem.” Now notice how you feel, any tension in your body, the jaw, neck, belly or back. Become aware of your energy levels. Now, say out loud; “I have a challenge.” Repeat the same observations of tension, energy levels. Most people report that when they state, I have a problem, they feel tension in the shoulders or stomach, their energy levels drop and they feel a sense of heaviness. But when they state, I have a challenge, they feel light, energies rise. Often we use these terms interchangeably, but these words have very different meanings. With ‘problem’, it’s like trying to push through a wall. We have all had problems before, and they are difficult to tackle. We have all had challenges, which often we rise up to meet, knowing we have conquered challenges before. Your body and subconscious knows the innate difference, and will attempt to bring awareness through how you feel physically and emotionally.
It is important to pay attention to your language, the words you use as descriptive, as your subconscious is taking cues or direction and designing your day to fulfilled whatever you intentionally or unintentionally program it to do.
Here are a few examples of words that you may be using that is undermining your best efforts: Try, Wish, Hope, Can’t, Should.
Try is a great word for anyone under 10 years old. It gives one permission to fail. Why is this important? Because often when we are young we are little perfectionists, and become quite frustrated when we draw outside the line. At some point a parent or teacher will counsel us; if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. After the age of 10, we want to give ourselves permission to succeed, so instead you say; “I’ll do my best.”
Wish equals disempowerment. Wishing you win the lottery is perfectly acceptable, however you cannot rely on luck for your income, one must work and afford their life.
Wish has its place when used correctly.
The same goes for Hope. Hope is great if you are hoping the chemotherapy works, or you are called in for an interview for a job after applying. More often than not, hope equals non-commitment.
Can’t is very challenging to eliminate from our language. But if you pay attention, more often than not is not that you can’t, but you won’t.
Lastly Should. It equals procrastination. Pay attention to how often you use this word because procrastination is the gateway to depression. It infers guilt on many levels.
Additionally, your subconscious takes cues or directives from your body language. Make sure your back is straight, you hold your head high. There has to be a congruence of language and how you hold your body to empower yourself in any situation or circumstance, whether alone or with others.
Play with it for a week, see how the subtle shift of your language effects the results you are seeking in your life. You will be quite amazed how this simple mindfulness, and stating exactly what you mean, and mean what you say.
You may want to keep a journal, or you may want to put a quarter in a jar every time you catch yourself using the afore mentioned words.
I would adore your feedback, and what you discovered, and how your life has changed in your personal self-confidence.
I will follow up and expand in future articles.