The Right Words Do Matter
June 12th, 2009
The Right Words Do Matter
Published on June 12th, 2009 @ 01:31:30 am , using 300 words, 2188 views

Living in possibly one of the warmest cities on this planet, it is probably too easy to give up the ‘cool’ attitude and very few seem to resist the ‘hot’ offer. All conversations either begin or lead to the climatic condition and I often find myself in them at least twice a day.
I don’t try to duck each time someone mentions how horribly hot the day is. That would not make me feel any better about the weather or the conversation. Instead, a smarter way of approaching certain unpleasant issues would be to use milder or more positive words to describe them.
Follow up:
A ‘bright’ day sounds much better than a hot and sultry one. Hot is uncomfortable and sweaty Whereas bright isn’t. Get it?
Does that mean that I stop feeling warm and sweaty? No, but the less of a big deal I make out of it, the more tolerable and pleasant it appears. I can think of quite a few such examples that can really make you change the way you look at many circumstances.
Try saying ‘issue’ instead of ‘problem’, ‘hurdle’ instead of ‘obstacle’, ‘phase’ instead of ‘crisis’, etc. I hope you get the idea. If you can think of more examples, do add it in as a comment so that you can share it with all of us!
You may not be able to switch over to this new habit overnight but with gradual usage, it would soon become a part of your life. Every habit needs to be tamed and the good ones get better while the bad ones diminish.
Soon, people will begin to notice the change in you and may just find your new habit adorably contagious.
For now, I am going to just leave you with this thought. Have a fantastic week!
323 comments
I would like to share a lesson which i learned during my MBA in our effective team management class which is on the same lines.
Assume you are in a team meeting brainstorming for new ideas, if you come up with an idea and exclaim that to the team as " I have a great idea which we can work on", what happens? You will face lots of questions on why this is a good idea, and you will find, yourself defending your idea and your team mates argueing why this is not a good idea. It's human nature to be competitive among peers.
Instead if you rephrase it by saying " there is an idea fragment that we could build upon and see what best outcome we can get out of it" here everyone feels that they are contributing to the fabulous idea as a team.
Where there is "I & MY" involved you attract ego attacks from others, if we can rephrase our words without such words, we stand a better chance to succeed.
Thank you for the input. However, if you notice, the context varies in both the contents.
I have written about how one can condition one's mind to accepting situations from a positive perspective.
Having participated in numerous similar discussions as a corporate trainer, I do comprehend your point of view, but if you maintain a positive attitude throughout such situations while remembering to respond and not react to any argument. Inevitably your composure will rub off on quite a few people.
Likewise, using positively charged words to enhance one's perspective of an otherwise dull or average situation will make you and others feel better.
Yes,, I do also feel that picking words,,, sud be best fitted,,, and situation has to be considered also,, sometimes word changes the theme,, Like if U STORM the customers,,, does not sounds better,, but effective to motivate.
Rajesh.
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