My Personal Vocabulary – Choose Your 10,000 Wisely.
For one word a man is often deemed to be wise, and for one word he is often deemed to be foolish. We should indeed be careful what we say. —Confucius.
The words you use are a very powerful tool, period. Take a look at the words you use, and you can learn quiet a bit about yourself. You can also learn a great deal about other people by listening to the words they use. The average person uses about 10,000 words. That’s the limit of their vocabulary. What’s interesting is what those 10,000 words are. Are they powerful words, that produce change, and influence. Or, are they lazy words that don’t produce anything, and most likely leave people questioning your purpose, peace, and value? I want to tweak my 10,000 words – take out the toxic entries that don’t produce anything positive and add new entries that communicate purpose, value, and intelligence. Here we go…
Items to remove:
- I Can’t
- I Don’t Know – Google it, or find the answer.
- Never-mind – Why did I bring it up if it wasn’t important?
- What if – When used to think of negative outcomes.
- Problem(s) – I want to only think in terms of “Opportunities” and “Solutions”
- Cheap – It sounds poor
- Sit – sounds lazy
- Never
- Won’t
- Maybe – there’s no resolution
- Nice – too easy, and none descriptive enough
- Easy – I always shoot myself in the foot with this.
- I have time – Untrue, I almost never do.
- Good/Bad – Don’t judge, just except.
- It will take too long – Doesn’t matter, if it’s worth doing, do it.
Items to add
- Action – it’s always good.
- Plan
- Adventure
- Sure – it’s up beat and positive.
- Can
- Yes – say it with confidence and certainty.
- No – say it with confidence and certainty.
- Important
- Opportunities – There are no problems, only opportunities.
- I love it
- I will
- Thank you – Be nice and courteous.
- Rich – I need to be more used to saying this.
- Wealthy – I need to be more used to saying this.
- Producer – As in “He/She/They/We/I get things done.”
- Possible – Everything is possible.
- Definitely
Obviously this will take some time and work but I believe that with daily attention, and persistence it can happen.
Words may be either the servants or masters. If the former they may safely guide us in the way of truth. If the latter they intoxicate the brain and lead into swamps of thought where there is no solid footing. Among the sources of those innumerable calamities which from age to age have overwhelmed mankind, may be reckoned as one of the principal, the abuse of words. —George Horne.
Words are weapons, and it is dangerous in speculation, as in politics, to borrow them from the arsenal of the enemy. —George Santayana, Obiter Scripta.