Words create worlds – use of positive words

TechnoparkToday.com>>  A Second Hand car or a pre-owned car?  What sounds better? Well, you are not alone if you picked a pre-owned car. This may be because the word ‘Pre-owned car’ has a better connotation than a second hand car, though both mean the same.

Words create worlds…..and the whole world is listening.

Wouldn’t we take special care with our spoken and written words if we knew that people around us are influenced or affected by them? Would we strive to use positive words if we knew others form impressions about us listening to the words we speak?

Positive words can make one feel great – physically, mentally and emotionally. On the flip side, negative words can stress and unnerve you. It is indeed very important as a professional to build a word robe of positive words into your everyday language. This will turn you into a people’s magnet drawing them to you, seeking inspiration, to evolve to greater levels. Even words like “certainly,” “excellent” and “great” when peppered into your usual choice of words will show that winning streak in you. The trick is to replace negative words with positive words. So if we replace the words “we are facing an issue” with “we are facing a challenge” we are shifting the focus to solutions. “Issues and problems” are there to stay but “challenges” can be overcome.

When we start asking “

questions” instead of “doubts” we are triggering that positive thought. Likewise, the word “recession” can have quite a strong negative connotation which can be offset by using a more positive word “downturn”. Anything that turns down will definitely turn up showing that positive outlook. “That was a mistake” can be said as “That was a learning experience”. Thus reworded, it encourages learning and experimentation at workplace.

Sometimes our choice of words also shows our acceptance and empathy towards others. For instance, visually impaired (for blind), energetic (for hyperactive), vertically challenged (for short) and of course, unstructured (for disorganized).

E-mail culture provides us the perfect platform to polish our positive language, as we can rework on the words before sending them out to colleagues and clients. We can develop an internal radar for negative words like “unfortunately,” “impossible” and “problems” as a cautionary step (note, not warning as it is also leans on the negative) for those sentences to be revised. “Unfortunately, it will be impossible to meet the deadline for the project because of the problems caused by people not coming on time for the discussions.”  When reworded becomes ” Can everyone ensure their timely attendance of the discussions so that we can complete the work on time and hit the deadline?”. Ring a bell? We are sure it does!

So let’s shape our thoughts and words positively and spread positivity around.

Sangeetha Elizabeth Panicker – a Corporate Trainer and Executive Coach based in Trivandrum Technopark. Readers can contact her at [email protected]

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