The words you choose and the way you present things, can and does impact your own attitude and the attitudes of others.
For example, it’s common to hear statements in the form of (with emphasis on the word “have”):
“I have to go to a meeting”, or “I have to create a presentation for a new client”, or “I have to go to the gym”, or “I have to interview job candidates”.
Oftentimes the implication – or simply the perceived or received message – is the lamentation that one has to DO something, or do something or a list of things that are less desirable than something else.
Now, regardless of whether you really would rather not do what you feel obligated to do (maybe you need a tooth filling!), or you are genuinely appreciative and enthusiastic to be able to make a difference and work on something important, consider that you might make yourself, as well as those you communicate with about the task, feel better and more positive about it, simply by choosing a different way to describe it.
For instance, instead of “I have to…”, one could begin “I get to…”, or “I have an opportunity to…”, etc. In other words, “I have an opportunity to present the neat stuff we can do to a new prospect (that I can’t pass up)”, or “I get to select a great person to join our company and team, which is really going to help…”, or “I’m getting a tooth filling to save my tooth!”, etc.
I think most of us want to associate with happy, positive, enthusiastic, and fulfilled people, and, again, the words we choose can indeed have an impact on the attitudes of everyone “in the room”, including ourselves. Further, it seems undeniable that our attitudes about even the small things throughout our days carry over to the “big picture”, and our *overall* outcomes, more than we might fully recognize.
