The other day I spent time with some friends whom I hadn’t seen in months. We used to be very close, but over the last couple of years our lives have taken us in somewhat different directions.
As I listened to them talk, I couldn’t help but notice how often the phrase, “I WOULD”, kept coming up.
For example (emphasis mine): “I would like to go visit my parents soon”, “I would like to move to a bigger house”, “I would like to take my kids to Disneyland.”
One of them even stated, “Here’s what I would do if I was making $100 000 a year…”
This is when I had my light bulb moment:
I realized that the people I normally associate with – successful, progressive entrepreneurs – don’t speak in terms of “if” or “would.” They speak in terms of “when” and “will”.
They don’t just wish. They DO.
And as I sat there listening to my friends’ conversation, it struck me how powerful language is.
The words we choose matter because they speak volumes about what goes on inside of us. We speak out of the overflow of our hearts, as it were.
The apparently subtle difference between “I will” and “I would” says everything about the mindset of the person uttering the words!
Everyone has ideas. Everyone has dreams. Dreaming is easy. Acting on the dreams…turning dreams into reality…that’s the hard part!
Which of course is why the vast majority of people live their entire life in terms of IF and WOULD. They continue to do what is “safe” and “normal”, seemingly oblivious to the fact that where there is no risk, there is no growth.
Failing to realize that everything they ever wanted in life lies right there outside their comfort zone…
I don’t know what category YOU fall into – “would” or “will”, “if” or “when” – but I want to challenge you right now:
Next time, when at a fork in the road, make the less obvious choice. Choose the rocky road. Be adventurous.
As I said, where there is no risk, there is no growth. And where is no growth, there is also no reward.
Don’t choose “average”. Choose “memorable”. Choose “memorable” because you have one life here on Earth, and it’s up to you to make the most of it.
Successfully,
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This entry was posted on Sunday, February 20th, 2011 at 7:25 pm and is filed under Leadership, Mindset, Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Hej Lena,
meget kloge ord, de fleste er enige, og de fleste ville efterleve det hvis de havde mod, jeg har selv været der, hvor man tør – men man kan komme i modgang og omgive sig med de mennesker der i mit sprog kaldes energivampyrer, og så kommer comfort zonen belejligt.Jeg vil igen gøre en indsats for min egen interesses skyld.
Med venlig hilsen
Rikke
Hei
Jeg leser alle mail jeg får fra deg.Jeg er ikke særlig flink i engelsk, så jeg forstår det meste men ikke alt. Er veldig nysjerrig på dette med PRO. Jeg er ikke flink med data heller. Men jeg kan lære. Må jeg være god i engelsk for å være med på dette?
Beautifully said. Yes everything that fulfills us and gives meaning and joy is always on the edge of our comfort zone. I love the way you framed that, and turning that into some form of action is the most important challenge to each and every one of us. This is truly something to take to heart.
Lena that is a great post about “I would” such a subtle difference in language but a grand canyon sized difference in committing to making it happen.
Fabulous!
Kindest regards
Diane