Venom known as ‘can’t’

My students always say ” I can’t” whenever I asked them to be creative in their writing and I had to tell them over and over that one of the biggest influences on your success as a writer comes from your own mouth.

That’s right, the words you say have a huge influence over your success. And I suppose, this applies to almost everything in life, and not just restricted to writing.

I always think that when you say something, you are actually declaring it to the world. To me, it becomes real the moment you say it out loud. And when you say negative things all the time, you’ll start to believe that they are real and you are restricting, oppressing and confining yourself from windows of possibility.

Someone very wise told me as a child that venomous words such as “can’t,” “should” and “impossible” are words you need to get rid of from your vocabulary if you ever plan on being a successful in whatever you do.

When you say you “can’t” do something, you automatically set a limit on yourself. You set a limit on what you’re capable of and how far you’ll go in life. “Can’t” is a possibility killer.

If you want to succeed as writer or achieving whatever goal you have in mind, get rid of the “can’t”. Here’s how:

  • Start saying “can”–I know it sounds simple, but changing your language pattern really is as easy as flipping the negative into a positive. So say, “I can do it” and “I can be a an achiever” and “I can reach my dreams.”
  • Pay very close attention to the words you’re using. As you start to pay attention, you’ll notice how often you’re using poisonous words like “can’t”. Once you know how often you’re saying it, then you can begin to change the choice of your words.

Reprogramming your self-talk isn’t a quick process, but it’s a worthwhile one as it will give you more confidence and create the ‘can do’ attitude.

4 comments

    • Cleffairy says:

      Exactly. Keep say this cannot, that cannot… so each time I always say why you cannot when other people can? *sigh* The mentality… omg… get on my nerves!

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