Words have power. And if you’ve ever wondered how to turn the power of words to your advantage, this is the TEDx talk for you.
In this TEDx talk, Lu Xanne Boon, Head of Workplace Culture and Resident Coach at Mindvalley, shares a fascinating experiment that proves that we can reprogram our minds with simply using the power of words.
What Is the Importance of Words?
Are words really all that important?
After all — the old saying is “actions speak louder than words,” right?
Well, words are powerful.
And if you’d like to know how to use the power of words in your favor, you need to understand the importance of words.
Words form the foundation of our verbal communication.
Without them, we’d be unable to share so many incredible, complex ideas.
Words help us create, tell stories, and share ideas.
But while words have the power to create, they also have the power to do harm.
And the way we use words, most especially during self-talk, can turn our waking lives into a haven or a nightmare.
How do words affect the brain?
We all know that words carry power. Words can heal, kill, elevate, or destroy us.
But as it turns out, words can decide our fate in a life or death situation and they can even alter our biology.
According to recent research, negative words have the ability to increase anxiety and depression, decrease cognitive functioning, and disrupt both sleep and appetite.
And just as negative words have power, so too do positive words.
If we can learn to channel negative self-talk into something more positive, we’d literally feel the difference, both emotionally and physically.
So, why is it so hard to change the way we talk?
How to harness the power of words
We tend to believe that something is true with repeated exposure to it.
—Lu Xanne Boon
Positive affirmations can have a powerful impact on our state of being. But if you’ve ever tried positive affirmations before, you know how challenging it can be to stick with it.
Why is it so difficult for us to change the way we speak? Why is it so hard for us to choose different, more positive words?
Well, science has an answer to that, too.
It turns out that the brain doesn’t take positive words as seriously as it does negative ones.
Positive words and thoughts aren’t perceived as threatening to our survival. And negative words are.
So, the brain just doesn’t respond as swiftly to positive affirmations.
That’s not to say that positive words and affirmations don’t work. They do.
They just require more persistence and perseverance.
If you want to harness the power of words to your advantage, watch this TEDx talk.
In it, Lu Xanne Boon as she shares her own experiment on what we can achieve with words and some surprising stories on the impact of how we talk to ourselves.
Learn to use the power of words to boost your self-confidence and banish the impact of negative words.
