Making goals is more difficult if we don’t express and think of our goals with the right mindset. How we use our language inwardly determines and outwardly expresses our level of commitment. Checking your language in these areas may help you with your goals!
Speak in Positives
We want to learn to be more conscious in our language. If we say, I choose not to be sad or I choose not to be fat—that’s not how the mind works. We need to say what we want.
It’s like me telling you, “Don’t think of a yellow cat or purple elephant.” By saying it in that way, you immediately think of a yellow cat and purple elephant! The subconscious mind doesn’t like to think in terms of “not.” Instead, we need to focus on what we do want. I want to be happy; I choose to be healthy—those are the same goals, but with the right statement and mindset.
The way we use our language defines the power that we express in our lives and relationships. Aristophanes teaches this too: “High thoughts must have high language.”
Speak Out Loud
Upgrade your language out loud. Notice how it feels in your body to hear the new voice. Practice that until it feels more true. That’s the power of affirmations.
Sometimes hearing something in a different way helps us think more deeply about it. You may try speaking back to any self-destroying thoughts in a different tone or a different language.
Commit with Words
To “intend” is to “try,” just with more letters. As taught by Yoda, sometimes you just have to commit. When someone asks you to marry them, you can’t give a clear answer by saying, “I’ll try.”
Saying, “I choose to do it” is a powerful way of communicating. George Orwell teaches that when there’s a gap between one’s real and declared aims, a person turns to long words and exhausted idioms. The more specific and concise we are, the more effective we can be.
Choose a Hole; Choose a Goal
Let’s imagine we have 10 goals, and each goal is represented by digging a whole. The fastest, most effective way to dig the ten holes would not be to dig one scoop for each hole, then go around again for scoop two, etc. The fastest way is to commit to a hole, complete it, then start on the next one.
Life has a way of distracting us and sidetracking us, as we have many responsibilities. There are situations where it’s best to dig in two or three holes at once. However, as much as we can, we should focus on one change until it’s complete. That will also help us see the change and feel more motivation.
It’s a similar strategy to getting out of debt. You put extra on one of the bills until it’s paid off, and then you use all the money you save from that bill and you put that onto the next one. That’s a compound effect to be able to get the bill paid off, and over the long run it costs less because you have less interest payments to make.
Let’s say you have 10 bills and you’re paying $10 on each of those every month. Finally, you can pay $2 more every month. It’s smartest to put both dollars on the same bill until that one’s gone. Now you have the $2 still, but you also have the $10 that you don’t have to pay for the completed bill. So you have $12 to pay toward the next bill. After that one’s done, you have $22 to pay toward the next bill, etc.
The change becomes faster and faster. So, get out of debt and make those changes one at a time, and make sure you have the right mindset to really commit to each goal.
For more information on conscious language, I’d recommend reading Conscious Language: The Logos of Now by Robert Tennyson Stevens.
Meet Rod
Rodney Limb has always enjoyed listening to people and helping them work out problems and struggles. As a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC), Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and a Nationally Licensed Hypnotherapist for over 20 years, he has helped hundreds of couples create a happy and thriving marriage out of disaster. He also provides counseling for anxiety, depression, stress, PTSD, and overcoming various behavioral addictions.
A Deeper Look into Spiritual Truths
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear in that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the World.
There is nothing enlightening about shrinking
so that other people won’t feel unsure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
As we let our own Light shine,
we consciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.” — Marianne Williamson
