So just this morning, I started my day by journaling. And I started with a prompt, I want to be known for I started to fill up the pages with words describing the impact that I wanna have in this world. I wanna be known for helping people do the things that they always wanted, but never thought possible. I wanna be known for speaking truth, bold truth. No matter what, I wanna be known for helping people look at life differently, to change their thinking, to dream bigger, to never ever settle. And I continued to write, I want to be known for. Then all of a sudden, I thought to myself, I don't just want to be known for these things. I will be known for them.

 

And I went back, and 1 by 1 over the pages before changed every single sentence to read I will instead of I want. It may only be a subtle shift in wording, but it was an incredibly powerful shift in my energy and in my excitement because words matter. Your words matter. They reflect your inner thoughts and beliefs, your self talk, But more than that, they can shape your future beliefs and experiences, and therefore, your reality. By changing your language, you can shift your mindset and your life as well, and sometimes, in an instant. You see the words that you use to describe an experience from the past or a desire for the future Become your reality. Let's look at past experience. When you attach certain words to an experience, it impacts how you feel about that experience and how you remember that experience.

 

In essence, the words that you're using define that experience. They put the boundaries around it. They define what actually happened. It's how you're gonna remember it based on the words that you choose. Let's say you just finished up a launch and when you think back, you use words like failure, devastated, not good enough, never going to work. If you attach those words to that launch, then those words are what that launch becomes. But the very same launch could be described using words like learned a lot, resilient, inevitable success. What can I improve on? The language around that very same launch defines that launch very differently when you use different words.

 

All of a sudden, you're looking at a launch not as a failure, but as a learning experience, as one important piece of this journey to your success. When you choose your words, you want to limit negativity. You want to limit exaggeration. How are you thinking about a past experience, and how different would it feel if you described it in a positive light and looked at the facts. I did this when I broke my arm. I reframed everything, looked at the good that came out of it. And now when I think about breaking my arm, yes, it was still painful, but I look at all of the ways that that improved my life. I looked at the ways, and I'm grateful for it, and it changes how I reflect back on that experience.

 

You see, most people think that they have to change the event. And in certain circumstances, they have to go back and change the things that they did to get a different outcome. But more often than not, it's not actually true. It's more about changing your response. There's actually a formula that's used, and it's event plus response equals outcome. Most people think that event equals outcome, therefore change the event to get a different outcome. But really, it's the response that you need to change. 2 different people with the same experience can respond differently and have a different outcome.

 

I see this all the time. 2 people experience the same thing. 1 uses it as an excuse not to move forward, and the other uses it as the very reason they have to move forward. 1 person responds as if it's the end of the world, and 1 person responds as if it's just a minor setback. The way that you respond to the events that happen in your life will change your outcome, And a huge part of that response is the words that you use to define it, the words that you use to attach to that event. Now this holds true for the future as well. There's a big difference when you think and act and use words that make something sound inevitable, when you act as if, I caught myself in my journaling this morning talking about how I want to, and there are a lot of words that fall in that same category, I need to. I'll try.

 

I hope. But when you shift your words and you use words that are stronger, more powerful and that lead you to stronger belief and immediate action that can change your future. That will change your future. So instead of saying, I need to, I'll try, I want to, I hope, Change that to I will. So when you want an event to happen, how you think about it, how you define it as inevitable will determine the outcome. That means you also have to get specific about your expectations. Let's look at a simple statement, one that I hear quite a bit. When I ask someone what it is that they desire.

 

Many will say, more clients so I can feel less stressed. But what does that actually even mean? You have to get specific. Your words matter when you think about your desires because your words determine how specific the results will be. So if you want more clients, do you want any clients? Do you want difficult clients? Do you want 1 more client? Do you want 20 more clients? What does it actually mean? Use words to set specific expectations. And when you say less stressed, still stressed, just less stressed or not stressed at all? Also, how can you flip that and phrase it positively? Because what you focus on grows. So if you're focused on the fact that you're stressed, even by defining your desire as being less stressed, you're still focused on the stress. Do you really mean that you wanna be more calm, full of joy, confident, free? And if so, what does that look like? How will you know when you've gotten there? The words that you use matter. They matter as you define your future expectations as desires that you want, and they matter when you define your past experiences.

 

The words you use shape your thoughts and your thoughts shape your action, and, of course, you know that your actions shape your future. Choose your words wisely. They matter, and they can change everything in an instant.