Words carry energy

Today, a little food for thought. Everything consists of energy.

So are words.
The use of specific words prompt you to action—or not. They make you believe something is possible, or not at all, and perhaps even hopeless.

Take the word "must," for example.

When I used to tell my children (and sometimes still do) to clean their rooms, usually nothing much happens. The "must" evokes resistance, even if I meant it practically.

But when I say it "can" be an idea to clean their rooms—because they can find their clean clothes again, or because the chaos is getting in their way—then they can think about it themselves.
And then, sometimes, there's just room to want to do it themselves.

Another word with unexpected meaning is "try." One of my clients pointed this out to me. She doesn't like this word at all.

I said to her that you can use "try" as an invitation to a form of curiosity: "Give it a try, see what it brings you.”
But she answered me: for me and many others, it sounds like: "Just do your best, even if it's still not going to work."

I realised that you see this actually often, especially in sports. When a coach says: We can try... the team quickly thinks: Oops, he might be thinking we are not good enough, we're going to lose.

Language is subtle. And yet incredibly powerful.

Fascinating, isn't it?