You want to be successful.
It is a common pursuit of pretty much everyone under the sun; but in your pursuit, you’re running a major risk of hurting your goals just by the every-day phrases you might be using. It’s cliché, but your words have tremendous power. I’m talking about the ability to make or break your personal success. By eliminating only eight phrases from your vocabulary you’re heading down an incredible path towards success.
To be successful, it is important to create a routine of positive activities to follow. The difference between being a success and a failure come down to your habits. These success principles include the very words you speak. So, in your own personal journey – avoid these eight phrases at all costs:
1. “Not fair” - My father always says, “If life were fair, I’d have hair.” And he’s right; you can’t blame your situation on your circumstances. Make the best with the cards you're dealt. Successful people don’t make excuses, they make do.
2. “Not my fault” - You have to be accountable, even in failure. If you’re willing to accept the successes, you need to accept the failures too. You shouldn’t be afraid to fail at something. In fact, failure is an incredibly powerful learning tool, and one I tackled in a previous post: 3 success lessons you need to know from a failure like me.
3. “This may be a stupid question…” - Nothing says I’m unsure of myself more than this phrase. It demonstrates a big hole in your confidence. There’s nothing wrong with trying to understand something better, don’t put yourself down in the process of trying to learn. A truly successful person knows where their shortcomings are, and they try to close the gaps by learning and asking pertinent questions.
4. “That’s not in my job description” - This one is a cop out, and a big one. A lot of things you do might not be in your job description, but successful people don’t pick and choose the tasks they want to tackle and the ones they want to avoid. True entrepreneurs don’t have rigid job descriptions they just make things happen.
5. “I’m not good enough” - Doubt isn’t always a bad thing, but when it stops you from even trying it is destructive. Don’t be the person standing in your way towards achieving success. Oftentimes we can be our own biggest hurdle. Eliminate this dangerous self doubt from your mind.
6. “I can’t” - You can if you really wanted to. Successful people don’t make excuses. Make it happen, and if you still feel like you can’t, then you can certainly find someone who can. Truly successful people don’t lean on their own knowledge and understanding all the time. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it.
7. “I don’t know how” - Very similar to “I can’t.” Even successful people don’t know how to do everything, but the difference is when they don’t know something they make it a priority to learn it and understand it.
8. “I’ll try” - Saying you’ll try is pretty apathetic. Set lofty goals and milestones for yourself, don’t just “try.” In the words of Yoda, “Do, or do not, there is no try.”
Being successful doesn’t have to be hard. All too often we’re too afraid to put in the hard work and the dedication, and it turn we make excuses to ourselves and to our peers on why we’re not achieving at high levels. These excuses will get you nowhere.
Instead, my simple advice to you – cut these 8 phrases out of your vocabulary all together. That is unless you’re okay with not being successful.
