"The Master Tool"

motivation affirmations - introduction
Are you your own worst enemy? Could it be that you are destroying your dreams with your very own words? What you say everyday is extremely important in determining the results you get in your life.

You have probably asked an innocent question such as “how are you?” and ended up regretting it because the person you asked took it as an opportunity to give you a detailed description of all their problems.

motivation affirmations - negative talk
There are people that are always complaining whenever you talk to them about what is going wrong in their lives. They are ever narrating how they are disliked by this or that person, how their job is a drag and their spouse a leech or burden, or how tough they are finding life generally.

Then there are those that take pride in advertising their sicknesses. They will proudly tell you every detail of their ailment in the hope of getting sympathy or appearing humble.

Most of all, never ever tell such people that you don’t have any problems or that you’re rich or healthy or successful. If someone so much as accuses you of having it all, deny it and say you are “just managing” or some “humble” thing like that. How dare you say your life’s good!

motivation affirmations - bad conditioning
We have been trained, over time, to respond in such ways and to look at enjoying life and being prosperous as something to be shunned. Our scripting seems to tell us that humility is the same thing as suffering.

Yet, oddly enough, we are all striving in one way or another to be prosperous. We go to work and have businesses so we can make money. We want health, but we speak sickness. We want wealth, but we speak poverty and lack. We want happiness, but we speak misery.

Why are our words so inconsistent with our actions? Worse still, why are we sabotaging our dreams with our very own words?

I am sure you are guilty of talking carelessly yourself. I am. That was until I learnt a very simple, but powerful lesson.

motivation affirmations - words shape your life
Your life is shaped by what you say. The Proverbs say: “A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled. Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”

You tongue is your master tool. As an artist uses a brush to paint a work of art, so you use your tongue to paint the masterpiece or the nightmare that is your life. Every word you say is another stroke on the canvas of your life.

There is a power in what you say that goes way beyond the obvious and beyond what science can explain. It is not surprising when you realize that words brought the whole universe into existence: “and God said…”

motivation affirmations - your words can create
So God has given each one of us that same creative power in our tongues and mouths. What you say determines where you end up more than what you do. If your actions and words are not consistent you will ultimately get what you say.

Elsewhere in the Bible, the tongue is compared to the helm of a ship. Though the helm is a small part of the ship, it has the power to direct the course of the whole ship. Your tongue is a small part of your body, but it has the power to direct your whole destiny.

This is partly because a word is simply a revealed thought. Therefore what you say is an indication of what you think. Conversely, your speech has the ability to influence your thinking. If you say something repeatedly you will ultimately come to believe it and regard it as reality. Your words and thoughts reinforce each other.

motivation affirmations - positive affirmations
This fact has led to techniques such as “positive affirmation” and “positive self talk” being developed. Many great men of our time, such as Zig Ziglar, teach such techniques and use them themselves. Ziglar has even developed a tool he calls the “Self Talk Card.”

Positive affirmations, for example, are simply things that you say to yourself that are positive. They are deliberate and thought out words that are in harmony with your dreams and that will help you to achieve your dreams.

Mark Allen puts it this way: “Affirmations are one of the simplest and most powerful things we can do to change the quality of our lives, and to create the things we want.”

All these fancy terms and jargon simply point to the fact that we are more in control of our lives than we ever thought possible. But with such great power comes great responsibility. That is what scares most of us.

motivation affirmations - don't be a victim
We would rather be victims and complainers. It is harder to acknowledge our power and cease to be careless with our words and our thoughts. Few people have the discipline and courage for such change.

But I know that, as a dreamer, you have the courage, capacity and will to change.The truth is you do not have a choice. If you want to achieve your dreams you will have to watch both your thoughts and your words. It is a process. It comes with practice, patience and persistence.

I know there are probably some of you out there that don’t agree with this, but there are principles at work that affect you whether you recognize them or not.

What you believe does not change the truth. The principle of gravity works whether you believe in it or not. The law of getting what you speak works – whether you believe in it or not.

motivation affirmations - conclusion
I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather play it safe and say the right things even if I don’t believe it works. It is likely, actually, that after a while of doing so you will find that it does work!

Watch what you say from now on. Listen to what comes out of your mouth. Rule of thumb: If you do not want it, don’t say it. Pearl Strachan said: “Handle them carefully, for words have more power than atom bombs.”

You are all you can be…go on and be it!