Indelible Marks

   The worse it got- (my anguish increased)

      my insides got hotter and hotter.

   My thoughts boiled over;

      I spilled my guts.

As I searched within me for an appropriate title for this article, this quote (above) from the Psalmist came to my mind.

We have all learnt that we should watch what we say and the steps we take….. Today I’m here to tell you that there is a sense in which it becomes so restrictive and what ordinarily should be a positive thing turns sore. What we say and our thoughts processes play key roles in the steps we take or fail to take and naturally have a direct consequence on our success

Let’s start with what we don’t say….

• We don’t engage in self-talk in order not to be perceived as insane or loosing it. We’ve always been a little nervous, culturally, about talking to ourselves….Abiola talking to Abiola would be considered kolomental (apologies to Faze). Plato defines thinking as “the soul talking to itself”. Who else but you knows you best? After all has been said and done, no one else can do more for you than yourself. Talk is cheap they say. Steve Chandler, the popular author of Reinventing Yourself says in one of my all-time-favourite books (I should make a list…), 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself , encourages us to engage in self-conversational thinking to combat our own pessimism and create the habit of optimistic thinking. Often times, we are our own limits. We hold and keep ourselves down by our not seeing the good in us. We are more capable than we think, more connected than you imagine. Prove me wrong.

• We don’t say enough good things about ourselves. We don’t want to be perceived boastful. “I am the World’s Greatest”. Say it out loud with a lot of attitude in the presence of two or more people. What was their reaction? How did you feel? Strange, at first. But if you stick with it and say it long enough, you begin to believe it. That’s it, your butterfly evolving from its cocoon beautifully, never mind that you are still in the larva stage…ultimately metamorphosis sets in, to pupa to maturity. It’s a step in the right direction, never mind your audience who think you weird….if they hang around long enough, in due season they are going to see you FLY. Enough of negative and false “modesty” which gets you nowhere. Blow your trumpet. Create your world with your words.

Spill your guts!