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Today I aim to explore the power of words.

Have you ever considered just how powerful words can be? In my experience, the power of words can have a much greater impact than you might imagine.

Let me tell you a heartwarming story to emphasize today’s point.

The reunion:

Some time ago I had lunch with a group of old friends.

Now there’s nothing unusual about that, you might say.

Even though it was the first time we’d all been together in the same place at the same time for more than 40 years, it was nothing exceptional.

Such reunions happen all the time, don’t they?

It was a genuine pleasure to see them all again and swap stories about how our lives had progressed since those far-off days.

However, it’s the story of one of my fellow diners that day that’s worth sharing with you now because I think it’s a source of inspiration and reinforces the importance of just how powerful words can be.

Saeed’s story:

Back in the day, we were all working together for the national telecommunications operator in the Middle East.

Three of us had been young, graduate engineers on an upward career trajectory, with the future seemingly ours for the taking. We had it all.

The other member of our group, let’s call him Saeed, had been the handyman and tea boy in the department at that time.

Saeed was then just a young teenager, straight out of school.

He was a bright and willing fellow, but he had no academic qualifications, and he spoke very little English at the time.

Now Arabic was his mother tongue, of course, but in the international business we were in, a good command of spoken English was essential if you were to have any chance of career success.

Saeed came from a poor village, and his perceived failure at school had left him feeling that, at just 16, he’d blown his chances and was destined for a life filled with low-paid, low-skilled jobs.

The power of words:

Fast forward 40+ years, and Saeed’s now every bit the poor-boy-made-good story.

Not only is he now a wealthy international businessman with two very successful businesses, he also has a string of qualifications, including two doctorate degrees. Now completing one PhD is hard work, but two? Wow.

In short, his success is impressive by any measure.

Nevertheless, how did Saeed get from where he was then to where he is now?

The simple answer, of course, is with determination and a lot of hard work.

You cannot achieve anything without those ingredients.

However, he also needed a reason to believe. He needed a spark to light the fire. And that is where the story gets interesting.

The spark that lit the fire:

Over lunch, Saeed explained that it was a kind and encouraging word, back in the day, from one of our fellow diners that had made him believe that he could make a success of his life despite a poor start.

My fellow diner, let’s call him Tom, didn’t even remember the conversation.

So, what was this kind and encouraging word?

Your past does not define your future.

The past is just a series of lessons. Beyond that, it doesn’t matter.

The future is an endless stream of opportunities we can choose to take or not.

Tom had explained these basic principles to Saeed and encouraged him to pursue his dreams.

You can make your life whatever you want it to be. That was Tom’s message. The life you want can be yours if you’re willing to work hard for it.

The impact:

The power of these well-timed words of encouragement had an impact on Saeed. It propelled him to a destiny he did not think possible. And that is today’s underlying point.

Words have power; choose them wisely.

The power of words matters. A few well-timed words can inspire young people.

And never, ever forget that young people need encouragement much more than they need criticism.

Encourage young people:

So next time you’re working with someone in the early stages of life’s journey, remember your words can have the power to encourage them.

Unfortunately, they can also have the potential to discourage them if you’re not careful.

What you say and the tone with which you say it does matter.

Always offer young people positive words of encouragement rather than harsh words of criticism.

Never, ever forget how powerful your words can be. The right words, at the right time, really can inspire young people to achieve their full potential.

Leave a legacy:

If you want to leave a legacy behind you, then it would be hard to improve on encouraging a young person to become the best and most successful person he or she could be.

Remember the power of words. You have power with your words. Use it wisely.

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Steps for making New Year’s resolutions:

1. Time for reflection:

The first step is to spend some time thinking about where you are in life and where you’d like to be.

What have you accomplished so far, and what would you like to accomplish in the future?

Where have you struggled and why? Perhaps your skillset needs improving or maybe you have some really bad habits which you should eliminate.

Spending some time on reflection should help you identify areas of your life that you want to focus on improving in the new year.

However, let me stress once again, think in terms of small steps rather than giant leaps.

2. Be specific:

If goals are to be achievable, then they need to be specific.

Rather than say, I want to lose weight. It’s much better to say, my goal is to lose 16 pounds by the 1^st of March.

With that goal, you’ll know you must lose two pounds every week if you’re to achieve your target. Then you can start focusing on related issues like diet, calorie count, exercise and so on.

3. Focus on a few goals:

You’re not going to achieve 20 goals in the new year. Most of them will get lost very quickly.

Decide on one, two or possibly three things you’d like to achieve and then prioritise them.

4. Write down your goals:

You’ll have a much greater chance of success if you commit your goals to paper.

Psychologically it will have an impact on you if you write them down. It will seem like a true commitment, and it will drive your unconscious mind to think about what needs to be done.

5. Share your goals with someone:

Sharing your goals with a friend, this again will reinforce your psychological commitment to those goals.

This will help you stay motivated, and it means that you make yourself accountable as you’re working towards achieving your goals.

Let’s face it, no one wants friends or family members to know that we failed. So, if they know you’re committed to a goal, you’ll have no choice but to make sure that you achieve it.

6. Planning:

For each of your goals, you must plan accordingly.

Break each goal down into its constituent parts and come up with a plan as to how you will achieve them.

Really, this just means breaking your goals down into smaller, actionable steps, and then creating a timeline for completing each step.

7. Anticipate problems:

Reaching goals is never easy. There will always be problems along the way. That’s just life.

So, make a list of the potential problems that might occur at certain times of the day, in given situations or with certain people, as you work towards achieving your goals.

Once you’ve identified the potential problems, you can then work out ways that will help you deal with them as and when they occur. In short, be prepared.

8. Set dates:

This is all about being specific again and it fits into the planning process.

When will you get started?

When will you achieve your goal? By what date, specifically?

Be realistic but challenge yourself too.

9. Regular review:

Right, you’ve set goals, you’ve got a plan in place, and you’ve set dates for starting and completion.

The next step is to set regular intervals to review progress.

This might be weekly, monthly and/or quarterly. Whatever seems appropriate, depending on the goal.

As you review progress, you’ll be able to identify whether small adjustments need to be made to your plan to achieve your goal on time.

Obviously, you’ll need to be flexible and willing to adjust your goals and plan as required.

10. Reward success:

To achieve your goal, you’ll need to be very disciplined, of course, but it also helps if there’s a potential reward at the end of the process.

So, promise yourself a suitable reward if you achieve your goal.

Success deserves to be rewarded.

Concluding remarks:

We’ve all made resolutions over the years that have come to nothing.

It’s easy to say what we plan to do, it’s much harder to do it and achieve our end goal.

However, just because you’ve failed with resolutions in the past, doesn’t mean you’re doomed to fail in the future.

Set your resolutions carefully, approach them methodically and don’t give up until you get to where you want to be.

It can be done, and people do. So can you!

Now you know how to make a new year resolution, you’re one step closer to achieving your goal.

Remember, small steps and not giant leaps.

Good luck!

Please share this post with your friends:

If you found this article useful then please share it on social media with your friends. When you share, everyone wins.

Please share it now and I’ll be ever so grateful. You’ll be helping a keen blogger reach a wider audience.

Thank you for your support.

How the power of words can change lives

The reunion:

Saeed’s story:

The power of words:

The spark that lit the fire:

The impact:

Encourage young people:

Leave a legacy:

Please share this post with your friends:

Other articles you might also find interesting:

10 steps for making new year’s resolutions

Steps for making New Year’s resolutions:

1. Time for reflection:

2. Be specific:

3. Focus on a few goals:

4. Write down your goals:

5. Share your goals with someone:

6. Planning:

7. Anticipate problems:

8. Set dates:

9. Regular review:

10. Reward success:

Concluding remarks:

Please share this post with your friends:

Other articles you might also find interesting:

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