Our words matter

The conscious and subconscious mind

Conscious mind 10%

• Will power
• Short-term memory
• Logical thinking
• Critical thinking

Subconscious mind 90%

• Beliefs
• Emotions
• Habits
• Values
• Protective reactions
• Long-term memory
• Imagination
• Intuition

Most of us are unaware of the power of our language and how it shapes our reality. Language is a very powerful tool but the trick is to figure out how to use it to our advantage. Psychologists have found that our subconscious mind interprets what we hear literally. It cannot decipher between what is true and what our language is suggesting. It takes it all as fact. So the words that we use create our reality, whether good or bad.

What you think directly affects how you feel, which in turn affects how you behave. If you think you’re a failure, you’ll feel like a failure. This will make you act like a failure, which will then provide you with evidence that you are a failure, hence reinforcing your belief that you are indeed a failure.

So our thoughts and hence, our words, hold a lot of power. This is why it’s so important to monitor them carefully and be aware of what other information we allow to affect our thoughts. Watching, listening to or using fear-inducing language during this time will determine the experience that we have.

If we focus our attention on using more positive language about who we are and how we want our life to be, it will lead to more positive thoughts, more positive feelings and therefore, more positive behaviours and outcomes.

We get to choose the life we want with the language that we use.

“If we understood the power of our thoughts we would guard them more closely. If we understood the the awesome power of our words, we would prefer silence to almost anything negative. In our thoughts and words we create our own weakness and our own strength.”

— Betty Eadie