Category Archives: Words

“Works, not Words.”

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“Works, not Words.”

—Seneca, ancient Roman Stoic philosopher

Image from BBC radio

Talk is cheap.
The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
After all is said and done, more is said than done.

What other cliches do you know that make a similar point?

How about alternative phrases such as:

Put up or shut up.
Actions speak louder than words.
Do something about it.
What is your body of work?
Take a massive baby step.

EXERCISE:

How can and will you embrace Seneca’s three words and turn them into works today?

Watch What You Say Life Might be Listening

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“Watch what you say. Life might be listening.”

—Author Unknown

Image of a calculator and a balance sheet

Image from rentvine.com

Imagine you are given a special bank account when you are an infant, just learning to speak and understand language.

What you don’t know at the time is that the words you speak and hear have a form of value or credit to them. Some words contribute to your net worth, others drain and deplete your reserves. Some may even put you in debt, or a form of life bankruptcy.

Pay particular attention today to the words you speak and hear, personally and professionally. Notice how much value and wealth you create for yourself and others.

EXERCISE:

How can you fully listen and tune into the powerful and value-packed words of others? How can you more fully contribute to others by generously sharing only the richest and choicest thoughts?

Words are Thoughts with Wings

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“Our words are our thoughts with wings. We open our mouths, our minds fly out.”

—Barbara Ann Kipfer, Author of Self-Meditation

Image of a flag reading "Watch your words"

Image from A Place to be Encouraged

We humans have a superpower not shared with any other creatures on Earth.

Given today’s quote, you would be correct in labeling language as our superpower.

With it, mankind has literally shaped and manifested all kinds of wondrous things, and some horrid things as well.

I’ve been watching a National Geographic Channel series called Origins: The Journey of Humankind, which points to a wide variety of moments that have shaped our society. Consider the impact of language on technology, medicine, government, monetary systems, and even war and terrorism on our world today.

EXERCISE:

Consider your inner voice and the words you choose to let fly into your personal and professional worlds. Be sure you are giving only your best when you decide to give others a piece of your mind.

If you check out the Origins series, let me know your thoughts!

“Words are small shapes in the gorgeous chaos of the world…”

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“Words are small shapes in the gorgeous chaos of the world. They bring the world into focus; they corral ideas; they hone thoughts; they paint watercolors of perception.”

– Diane Ackerman, author, poet, and naturalist

When I was growing up, one of the most popular board games was Scrabble. This game brought families and friends together to test our abilities to take those small shapes and find focus from initial chaos.

Today, the number of popular word games is staggering, with some of the most popular being Words with Friends, Wheel of Fortune, Bookworm, Boggle, and the ever-popular crossword puzzle.

Exercise:

To build up your word-power muscle, keep an old-fashioned dictionary or thesaurus handy to review daily when you identify a word you don’t know, or when you are writing.

For those of you who are more tech-savvy, check out www.dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday or a similar site or app.