Years ago, I worked with a plumber called Barry on a large scale renovation project that blew out from two years to five very long years. It was a highly stressful project, where very little went to plan, and Barry came onto the scene around the same time I hit rock bottom in my relationship with myself.

Now, Barry and I spent a lot of time together during this project, and he was a really open, friendly guy, so we talked about a lot of things. However, there was always one word that would stop our conversation in its tracks. The word, BUT. At the time, I was using the word BUT in almost every conversation and Barry would stop me every single time. You see, Barry understood that everything following the word BUT would negate what was said before it.

One day, the significance of just how prevalent the word BUT was in my world, and the outcomes it was creating for me, really hit home. It was the day I said to Barry, “you know, you're my best ever plumber and I love you but…”. And Barry said to me before I could say anything else, “so what you're telling me is, I'm not your best ever plumber and you don't really love me”.

It was in that moment, I realized that the word BUT had the potential to have devastating and unintended consequences, not just for me, but for those I cared about. And I actively started looking at all the ways my use of this one seemingly insignificant word was affecting my life. My friend, I was shocked at what I found.

Here's the thing. It wasn't just the word BUT that was showing up in my world and holding me back from experiencing the full potential of what my life could be. There were a lot of similar seemingly insignificant words that were a regular part of my thoughts and conversation.

And as I changed those seemingly insignificant words one by one, I experienced a truly significant shift in my world. Instead of my words closing doors and saying no to opportunities, they started opening doors to all sorts of possibilities. And by choosing better words, I was able to create the outcomes I wanted in my life with far less resistance and much more ease and flow.

My friend, words have the ability to dramatically alter the course of your life. They have an incredible impact on who you think you are and who you think you're not, what you think is and isn't possible for you, your interactions with others, and the reality you create for yourself. They can either limit you or make you limitless. And the shift between these two extremes is often extremely subtle.

In today's episode, I'm sharing how you can tap into these subtle shifts in your language and use the power of your words to completely transform your world. So, if you're ready to learn how to use your everyday thoughts and conversations to say YES! to more of what you want, then my friend, tune in and take a listen.

Welcome to The Self-Creation School podcast, for women who are ready to ditch mediocrity, step up and get more of what they want, and finally say YES! to a life that sets their soul on fire. I'm your host Leanne Letica, Self-Creation Coach, founder of The Self-Creation School AND Queen of YES!. If you're ready to play life by your own personal rule book, and give yourself permission to say YES! to yourself and your wildest dreams, this podcast is the place for you.

Hello and welcome to another episode of The Self-Creation School podcast where every episode is an invitation to say YES! to you and the life you dream of. I am so pleased to have you here with me today because today's conversation is about something we don't often stop to think about yet it has a profound impact on our lives. And, of course, what I'm talking about is your everyday choice of words. The words you both think to yourself and those you speak out loud.

Now for many of us, the language we use is mostly left to run on autopilot, and our thoughts and conversations happen quite by default. We don't tend to stop and think about the kind of words we are using and their true impact. Yet these words are constantly shaping and reaffirming your beliefs, they are influencing your actions, and they are determining the reality you experience in your world.

Research in cognitive psychology has shown that the words you use can alter your emotional state, they can shift your thought patterns, and even affect your decision-making processes. This is because every word carries with it a world of personal associations, emotions, and implications that subtly guide your thinking and behavior. And it's often the small, seemingly insignificant words that you either use, or perhaps you don't use, that can change the entire meaning of your thoughts and conversations and make all the difference to your outcomes.

So in our time together today, I'm going to be sharing how the simplest shift in your vocabulary can turn your obstacles into solutions and your doubts into empowering action. I have plenty of examples for you, and I'll also be sharing some tips to help you make these subtle shifts. Let's get started.

And I want to begin by talking about two concepts that are foundational to our conversation today and that play an important part in your ability to fully tap into the power of your words.

The first is the concept of a growth mindset. Now a growth mindset is the belief that your abilities and intelligence can be developed over time. It's about seeing challenges as opportunities to grow and learn. Essentially, a growth mindset is a limitless mindset. And the opposite to a growth mindset is a fixed mindset, which assumes that your abilities are static and unchangeable. A fixed mindset limits you and holds you back from being able to explore your full potential. Basically, a fixed mindset will keep your reality fixed. Whereas a growth mindset allows your reality to expand and grow.

The second concept is the distinction between thinking and speaking words. So the words you think shape your internal dialogue, the conversation you have with yourself, and they influence your self-perception. So that is who you perceive yourself to be and what you perceive you are capable of. The words you think also inform the words you speak out loud. And those words have the power to not only impact your own reality, but also how others perceive and interact with you. So both the words you think, and the words you speak, are incredibly powerful in creating the reality you experience in your life.

When you understand these two concepts, you will understand the power of your words. By using your words intentionally to shift from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset, and being mindful of both your internal and external language, you can begin to transform your world in ways you never imagined possible through the simple use of words.

So, as we continue this conversation today, keep these two concepts in mind. Think about how the words you are using reflect either a growth or a fixed mindset and start to consider the impact your internal and external language is having on your reality. And with that said, let's take a look at what some of these limiting words are and their alternatives.

Now, I've already introduced you to the word BUT, so I think that's a pretty good place to start. The word BUT often serves as a roadblock. It's a signal that you're about to diminish or negate what you've just said. Obviously, I've seen how this plays out in my own life, and I have witnessed it time and again in the lives of so many of my clients.

The BUT roadblock often sounds like this, “I want to start my own business, but…”, “I'd love to change careers, but…”, “I dream of taking that trip, but…”, “I wish I could lose that weight, but…”, “I love my husband and I want to save my marriage, but…”, “It's possible for others, but…”. And the words that follow BUT in all of these cases usually describe all the reasons why something is not possible. BUT is a fixed mindset word. It's a limiting word.

However, when you replace the word BUT with the word AND, you create space for inclusivity and possibility. It's no longer a this OR that option, it's this AND that. So for example, “I want to start my own business but I'm scared I'll fail” versus “I want to start my own business and I know I can learn and grow”. Can you hear the difference in those two statements? One makes the situation fixed and one opens the door to possibilities. The word AND expands and grows your perspective, rather than keeping it limited.

Here's another one that is very common, especially for women, and one I have also had a lot of struggle around, and that is the word SHOULD.

Not long after what I like to call my Barry realization, I got to serious work on reinventing myself and my life and I worked with a coach to help me kickstart that process. Halfway into our second session together, she stopped me and said, “Leanne, what's with all these shoulds? Where are these shoulds coming from? Who says you should?”. And that one word ended up revealing layer after layer of limiting beliefs about myself, my value and my place in this world, and what was possible for me. And SHOULD was for me, a denial of my wants, my needs, and my dreams on so many levels.

The word SHOULD so often carries with it a weight of obligation, of doing things because we believe we have to, not because we want to. It limits our freedom and our ability to choose. It disempowers us. It is a fixed mindset word.

I did a ton of work to shift my SHOULDS to COULDS, from should to choose to, get to, want to, would love to. And I've got to tell you, it was like opening a window in a stuffy room. Suddenly, there was freedom, there was choice, and there was potential. It was like a weight off my shoulders. This one simple change empowered me to live more authentically in line with who I really wanted to be. It helped me stop people-pleasing and put myself at the top of my list. It allowed me to put boundaries in place in my life and stop tolerating what other people expected of me as being what was right for me. And ultimately, it enabled me to challenge the status quo, to start aligning my actions with my desires, rather than with external expectations.

So take a listen in on your SHOULDS. Who should you be? How should you live your life? What should you be thinking, feeling, doing, eating, drinking? Who should you be loving? Where should you be living? And so on, and so on, and so on. And then ask yourself, who could you be? How could you live your life? What could you be thinking, feeling, doing, eating, drinking? Who could you be loving? Where could you be living?

Replacing your SHOULDS with COULDS will expand the possibilities available to you and empower you to explore them. COULD is a limitless word and it could be your game changer, just like it has been for me.

Another game changer is replacing the word WHY with HOW. This shift moves you from being a victim of your circumstances to being an active participant in your life. Instead of asking, “why is this happening to me?” ask “how is this happening for me?”. Instead of “why didn't I get the promotion?” ask “how can I learn and grow from this?”. Instead of “why can I lose weight?” ask “how can I learn to take better care of me?”.

Changing your WHY'S to HOW'S is a powerful reframe of your situation that puts you back in the driver's seat, ready to navigate through life's challenges with resilience and curiosity. Asking HOW will reveal lessons and growth and opportunities that are not available to you when you ask WHY.

Now, let's consider how adding a word, as opposed to changing a word, can change your reality.

Often, I hear women say things like this, “I'm no good at this”, “I didn't achieve my goal”, “I can't succeed in my business”, “I didn't receive my promotion”, or “I can't lose the weight”. And in all of these statements the outcome is finite, it's fixed. But that doesn't actually mean it's the only available outcome. And there's a word that can be added to all of these statements that opens the door to those other possible outcomes, and that is the word YET.

YET is a powerhouse word for tapping into a growth mindset. Saying “I haven't mastered this yet” instead of “I'm no good at this”, transforms an end into a beginning. It's like turning a full stop into a comma, it signals that your journey isn't over and your potential isn't capped. “I didn't achieve my goal”... “I haven't achieved my goal yet”. “I can't succeed in my business”... “I haven't succeeded in my business yet”. “I didn't receive my promotion”... “I haven't been promoted yet”. “I can't lose the weight”... “I haven't lost the weight yet”.

The word YET is the fastest way I know how to shift my mindset from focusing on the problem to looking for the solutions.

I hope you're beginning to see how small changes to the words you think and speak can make a big difference in the possibilities that become available to you.

The last couple of examples I want to share with you in our conversation today are not so much about changing the words themselves, rather the words that follow them.

And the first example are the words I AM. Those two words, my friend, are potent. They're an affirmation, a declaration of who you are and who you intend to be. Be mindful of what follows I AM in your thoughts and your conversations. These words shape your identity and ultimately, the actions that create your reality. “I am no good at this” versus “I am learning how to be better at this” will have two very different outcomes.

The second example is WHAT IF. So often we use WHAT IF to express our fears and doubts. “What if I fail?” “What if people don't like me?” “What if I say the wrong thing?” But what if you flip the script? What if you used WHAT IF questions to imagine the best possible outcomes? “What if I succeed beyond my wildest dreams?” “What if this is the best thing I ever do?” “What if I find the people who finally get me?” “What if this conversation goes right?” This shift can open your mind to endless possibilities and guide you towards a more optimistic and adventurous approach to your life.

And listen, there are so many other words that have the potential to expand what's possible in your world. Words like choosing versus needing, opportunity versus problem, learning versus failing. These are all choices between constriction and expansion, between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.

By choosing your words carefully, you can empower yourself to see life as a series of opportunities for growth and learning, even in the face of challenges or adversity. And my friend, each of these words or phrases I've shared with you today, have the ability to completely transform your life. They can open doors, or they can build walls. The choice, as always, is yours.

Now, let's explore some practical tips and strategies to help you recognize your language patterns and integrate these transformative words and phrases into your everyday life. And this is where identity-based transformation plays a crucial role. The goal here is to not just change your language, but to integrate these changes into who you be and what you naturally say. There are three main steps to this kind of transformation.

The first step involves editing the language in the stories you tell yourself about who you are and what's possible for you. So begin by identifying the stories and beliefs that are holding you back from achieving your goals and dreams or realizing your full potential. And look for the limiting words in these stories, words like we've discussed here today.

Keeping a language journal for a week can be an incredibly insightful tool in this process and allow you to take inventory of the limiting words that are frequently coming up in your thoughts and conversations, especially those surrounding your goals and dreams. You might also enlist the help of a language buddy here, so someone who is supportive that you spend regular time with, who can provide insights into the language they are hearing that you might not be picking up on.

Now, once you've clearly identified these words, spend some time to reflect on their impact. How are they limiting you? What actions are they preventing you from taking? What opportunities are they closing the door on? Who do you become because of these words? Then rewrite these stories, replacing the limiting words with those that expand your possibilities and showcase your capabilities. For example, changing “I should have done more by now” to “I am exploring new opportunities to grow” can profoundly shift your perspective and your outcomes.

The second step in this process is about elevating your identity to align with your new limitless story. Using your identity to integrate these changes into your everyday life is crucial for long lasting language transformation and success.

So take some quiet time with your journal and think about who do you become with this new limitless story. How does it change your actions, your decisions, your thoughts, feelings, and your interactions with others? Write a detailed description of this evolved version of your SELF, and here you want to be as specific as possible about this new version of you. What do you do differently? How do you speak about yourself and your dreams? How do you approach each day with your new limitless story in mind?

Then, from this description of your new evolved SELF create some I AM statements that reinforce this new identity and use these as affirmations throughout your day. For example, “I am a woman who embraces challenges with curiosity”. I personally like to set my affirmations up as reminders in my calendar app and also start my morning journal session by reading them and using them to help me set my intentions for the day of who I intend to be.

Finally, your language shift comes full circle when you take actions aligned with your new identity and your new limitless language. So the final step is to choose one action you identified in step 2 of this process and act on it. This could be actions like setting daily intentions with your new I AM affirmation, engaging in a morning journal ritual that reflects your limitless perspective, or simply making choices that the new empowered version of you would make. So choose one action that you can easily implement today and start with that.

Then it's important to track your progress through daily reflections and recognizing even the smallest wins to help you solidify your new evolved identity into who you naturally be. You might like to do this at the end of each day, by simply taking a few moments to recognize when you used your new limitless language in your thoughts and conversations during the day, and how it affected the action that you took as a result.

Now, you can use this entire process to shift all of your limiting words, however, it is important to take this one word at a time. This process isn't just about changing the words you use, you're transforming the way you think, how you feel, and how you interact with the world. It's about moving from a place of self-imposed limitations to one of expansive potential. So, don't rush this process. Trying to change every word at once will likely mean you change no words. Change does take time, so take your time with this and work on shifting one limiting word at a time to your new limitless language.

And my hope from our conversation today is that you can now see that language is a powerful tool, and with mindful practice and intentional word choices, you can use it to create a life that truly is limitless.

Start with one word that you uncover in this process and gradually introduce the others as you make progress. Remember, this process is about progress, not perfection. So say YES! to the process and to embracing it with curiosity and compassion for yourself, knowing that even the smallest shift in your vocabulary can lead to profound changes in your reality. I encourage you to start today. Start with one word at a time and watch as your world starts to transform around you.

And that's all I have for you today, my friend. I share more tips and insights into the Self-Creation process in my weekly newsletter, CREATED. So, if you haven't yet signed up to receive your copy, you can add your name at selfcreationschool.com/created. And I'll leave that link in the show notes for you as well.

As always, thanks so much for joining me and stay tuned for another episode of The Self-Creation School podcast next Wednesday.

Until then, be the woman who says YES!

Hey, have you joined my FREE mini-workshop the Week of YES!? This powerful five-day workshop will help you take your foot off the brake and start saying YES! to more of the life you crave. Isn't it time you created a life you're beyond excited to wake up to? It all begins with saying YES!. Head over to https://selfcreationschool.com/weekofyes and get started on your YES! story today. I'll see you there.

Years ago, I worked with a plumber called Barry on a large scale renovation project that blew out from two years to five very long years. It was a highly stressful project, where very little went to plan, and Barry came onto the scene around the same time I hit rock bottom in my relationship with myself.

Now, Barry and I spent a lot of time together during this project, and he was a really open, friendly guy, so we talked about a lot of things. However, there was always one word that would stop our conversation in its tracks. The word, BUT. At the time, I was using the word BUT in almost every conversation and Barry would stop me every single time. You see, Barry understood that everything following the word BUT would negate what was said before it.

One day, the significance of just how prevalent the word BUT was in my world, and the outcomes it was creating for me, really hit home. It was the day I said to Barry, “you know, you're my best ever plumber and I love you but…”. And Barry said to me before I could say anything else, “so what you're telling me is, I'm not your best ever plumber and you don't really love me”.

It was in that moment, I realized that the word BUT had the potential to have devastating and unintended consequences, not just for me, but for those I cared about. And I actively started looking at all the ways my use of this one seemingly insignificant word was affecting my life. My friend, I was shocked at what I found.

Here's the thing. It wasn't just the word BUT that was showing up in my world and holding me back from experiencing the full potential of what my life could be. There were a lot of similar seemingly insignificant words that were a regular part of my thoughts and conversation.

And as I changed those seemingly insignificant words one by one, I experienced a truly significant shift in my world. Instead of my words closing doors and saying no to opportunities, they started opening doors to all sorts of possibilities. And by choosing better words, I was able to create the outcomes I wanted in my life with far less resistance and much more ease and flow.

My friend, words have the ability to dramatically alter the course of your life. They have an incredible impact on who you think you are and who you think you're not, what you think is and isn't possible for you, your interactions with others, and the reality you create for yourself. They can either limit you or make you limitless. And the shift between these two extremes is often extremely subtle.

In today's episode, I'm sharing how you can tap into these subtle shifts in your language and use the power of your words to completely transform your world. So, if you're ready to learn how to use your everyday thoughts and conversations to say YES! to more of what you want, then my friend, tune in and take a listen.

Welcome to The Self-Creation School podcast, for women who are ready to ditch mediocrity, step up and get more of what they want, and finally say YES! to a life that sets their soul on fire. I'm your host Leanne Letica, Self-Creation Coach, founder of The Self-Creation School AND Queen of YES!. If you're ready to play life by your own personal rule book, and give yourself permission to say YES! to yourself and your wildest dreams, this podcast is the place for you.

Hello and welcome to another episode of The Self-Creation School podcast where every episode is an invitation to say YES! to you and the life you dream of. I am so pleased to have you here with me today because today's conversation is about something we don't often stop to think about yet it has a profound impact on our lives. And, of course, what I'm talking about is your everyday choice of words. The words you both think to yourself and those you speak out loud.

Now for many of us, the language we use is mostly left to run on autopilot, and our thoughts and conversations happen quite by default. We don't tend to stop and think about the kind of words we are using and their true impact. Yet these words are constantly shaping and reaffirming your beliefs, they are influencing your actions, and they are determining the reality you experience in your world.

Research in cognitive psychology has shown that the words you use can alter your emotional state, they can shift your thought patterns, and even affect your decision-making processes. This is because every word carries with it a world of personal associations, emotions, and implications that subtly guide your thinking and behavior. And it's often the small, seemingly insignificant words that you either use, or perhaps you don't use, that can change the entire meaning of your thoughts and conversations and make all the difference to your outcomes.

So in our time together today, I'm going to be sharing how the simplest shift in your vocabulary can turn your obstacles into solutions and your doubts into empowering action. I have plenty of examples for you, and I'll also be sharing some tips to help you make these subtle shifts. Let's get started.

And I want to begin by talking about two concepts that are foundational to our conversation today and that play an important part in your ability to fully tap into the power of your words.

The first is the concept of a growth mindset. Now a growth mindset is the belief that your abilities and intelligence can be developed over time. It's about seeing challenges as opportunities to grow and learn. Essentially, a growth mindset is a limitless mindset. And the opposite to a growth mindset is a fixed mindset, which assumes that your abilities are static and unchangeable. A fixed mindset limits you and holds you back from being able to explore your full potential. Basically, a fixed mindset will keep your reality fixed. Whereas a growth mindset allows your reality to expand and grow.

The second concept is the distinction between thinking and speaking words. So the words you think shape your internal dialogue, the conversation you have with yourself, and they influence your self-perception. So that is who you perceive yourself to be and what you perceive you are capable of. The words you think also inform the words you speak out loud. And those words have the power to not only impact your own reality, but also how others perceive and interact with you. So both the words you think, and the words you speak, are incredibly powerful in creating the reality you experience in your life.

When you understand these two concepts, you will understand the power of your words. By using your words intentionally to shift from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset, and being mindful of both your internal and external language, you can begin to transform your world in ways you never imagined possible through the simple use of words.

So, as we continue this conversation today, keep these two concepts in mind. Think about how the words you are using reflect either a growth or a fixed mindset and start to consider the impact your internal and external language is having on your reality. And with that said, let's take a look at what some of these limiting words are and their alternatives.

Now, I've already introduced you to the word BUT, so I think that's a pretty good place to start. The word BUT often serves as a roadblock. It's a signal that you're about to diminish or negate what you've just said. Obviously, I've seen how this plays out in my own life, and I have witnessed it time and again in the lives of so many of my clients.

The BUT roadblock often sounds like this, “I want to start my own business, but…”, “I'd love to change careers, but…”, “I dream of taking that trip, but…”, “I wish I could lose that weight, but…”, “I love my husband and I want to save my marriage, but…”, “It's possible for others, but…”. And the words that follow BUT in all of these cases usually describe all the reasons why something is not possible. BUT is a fixed mindset word. It's a limiting word.

However, when you replace the word BUT with the word AND, you create space for inclusivity and possibility. It's no longer a this OR that option, it's this AND that. So for example, “I want to start my own business but I'm scared I'll fail” versus “I want to start my own business and I know I can learn and grow”. Can you hear the difference in those two statements? One makes the situation fixed and one opens the door to possibilities. The word AND expands and grows your perspective, rather than keeping it limited.

Here's another one that is very common, especially for women, and one I have also had a lot of struggle around, and that is the word SHOULD.

Not long after what I like to call my Barry realization, I got to serious work on reinventing myself and my life and I worked with a coach to help me kickstart that process. Halfway into our second session together, she stopped me and said, “Leanne, what's with all these shoulds? Where are these shoulds coming from? Who says you should?”. And that one word ended up revealing layer after layer of limiting beliefs about myself, my value and my place in this world, and what was possible for me. And SHOULD was for me, a denial of my wants, my needs, and my dreams on so many levels.

The word SHOULD so often carries with it a weight of obligation, of doing things because we believe we have to, not because we want to. It limits our freedom and our ability to choose. It disempowers us. It is a fixed mindset word.

I did a ton of work to shift my SHOULDS to COULDS, from should to choose to, get to, want to, would love to. And I've got to tell you, it was like opening a window in a stuffy room. Suddenly, there was freedom, there was choice, and there was potential. It was like a weight off my shoulders. This one simple change empowered me to live more authentically in line with who I really wanted to be. It helped me stop people-pleasing and put myself at the top of my list. It allowed me to put boundaries in place in my life and stop tolerating what other people expected of me as being what was right for me. And ultimately, it enabled me to challenge the status quo, to start aligning my actions with my desires, rather than with external expectations.

So take a listen in on your SHOULDS. Who should you be? How should you live your life? What should you be thinking, feeling, doing, eating, drinking? Who should you be loving? Where should you be living? And so on, and so on, and so on. And then ask yourself, who could you be? How could you live your life? What could you be thinking, feeling, doing, eating, drinking? Who could you be loving? Where could you be living?

Replacing your SHOULDS with COULDS will expand the possibilities available to you and empower you to explore them. COULD is a limitless word and it could be your game changer, just like it has been for me.

Another game changer is replacing the word WHY with HOW. This shift moves you from being a victim of your circumstances to being an active participant in your life. Instead of asking, “why is this happening to me?” ask “how is this happening for me?”. Instead of “why didn't I get the promotion?” ask “how can I learn and grow from this?”. Instead of “why can I lose weight?” ask “how can I learn to take better care of me?”.

Changing your WHY'S to HOW'S is a powerful reframe of your situation that puts you back in the driver's seat, ready to navigate through life's challenges with resilience and curiosity. Asking HOW will reveal lessons and growth and opportunities that are not available to you when you ask WHY.

Now, let's consider how adding a word, as opposed to changing a word, can change your reality.

Often, I hear women say things like this, “I'm no good at this”, “I didn't achieve my goal”, “I can't succeed in my business”, “I didn't receive my promotion”, or “I can't lose the weight”. And in all of these statements the outcome is finite, it's fixed. But that doesn't actually mean it's the only available outcome. And there's a word that can be added to all of these statements that opens the door to those other possible outcomes, and that is the word YET.

YET is a powerhouse word for tapping into a growth mindset. Saying “I haven't mastered this yet” instead of “I'm no good at this”, transforms an end into a beginning. It's like turning a full stop into a comma, it signals that your journey isn't over and your potential isn't capped. “I didn't achieve my goal”... “I haven't achieved my goal yet”. “I can't succeed in my business”... “I haven't succeeded in my business yet”. “I didn't receive my promotion”... “I haven't been promoted yet”. “I can't lose the weight”... “I haven't lost the weight yet”.

The word YET is the fastest way I know how to shift my mindset from focusing on the problem to looking for the solutions.

I hope you're beginning to see how small changes to the words you think and speak can make a big difference in the possibilities that become available to you.

The last couple of examples I want to share with you in our conversation today are not so much about changing the words themselves, rather the words that follow them.

And the first example are the words I AM. Those two words, my friend, are potent. They're an affirmation, a declaration of who you are and who you intend to be. Be mindful of what follows I AM in your thoughts and your conversations. These words shape your identity and ultimately, the actions that create your reality. “I am no good at this” versus “I am learning how to be better at this” will have two very different outcomes.

The second example is WHAT IF. So often we use WHAT IF to express our fears and doubts. “What if I fail?” “What if people don't like me?” “What if I say the wrong thing?” But what if you flip the script? What if you used WHAT IF questions to imagine the best possible outcomes? “What if I succeed beyond my wildest dreams?” “What if this is the best thing I ever do?” “What if I find the people who finally get me?” “What if this conversation goes right?” This shift can open your mind to endless possibilities and guide you towards a more optimistic and adventurous approach to your life.

And listen, there are so many other words that have the potential to expand what's possible in your world. Words like choosing versus needing, opportunity versus problem, learning versus failing. These are all choices between constriction and expansion, between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.

By choosing your words carefully, you can empower yourself to see life as a series of opportunities for growth and learning, even in the face of challenges or adversity. And my friend, each of these words or phrases I've shared with you today, have the ability to completely transform your life. They can open doors, or they can build walls. The choice, as always, is yours.

Now, let's explore some practical tips and strategies to help you recognize your language patterns and integrate these transformative words and phrases into your everyday life. And this is where identity-based transformation plays a crucial role. The goal here is to not just change your language, but to integrate these changes into who you be and what you naturally say. There are three main steps to this kind of transformation.

The first step involves editing the language in the stories you tell yourself about who you are and what's possible for you. So begin by identifying the stories and beliefs that are holding you back from achieving your goals and dreams or realizing your full potential. And look for the limiting words in these stories, words like we've discussed here today.

Keeping a language journal for a week can be an incredibly insightful tool in this process and allow you to take inventory of the limiting words that are frequently coming up in your thoughts and conversations, especially those surrounding your goals and dreams. You might also enlist the help of a language buddy here, so someone who is supportive that you spend regular time with, who can provide insights into the language they are hearing that you might not be picking up on.

Now, once you've clearly identified these words, spend some time to reflect on their impact. How are they limiting you? What actions are they preventing you from taking? What opportunities are they closing the door on? Who do you become because of these words? Then rewrite these stories, replacing the limiting words with those that expand your possibilities and showcase your capabilities. For example, changing “I should have done more by now” to “I am exploring new opportunities to grow” can profoundly shift your perspective and your outcomes.

The second step in this process is about elevating your identity to align with your new limitless story. Using your identity to integrate these changes into your everyday life is crucial for long lasting language transformation and success.

So take some quiet time with your journal and think about who do you become with this new limitless story. How does it change your actions, your decisions, your thoughts, feelings, and your interactions with others? Write a detailed description of this evolved version of your SELF, and here you want to be as specific as possible about this new version of you. What do you do differently? How do you speak about yourself and your dreams? How do you approach each day with your new limitless story in mind?

Then, from this description of your new evolved SELF create some I AM statements that reinforce this new identity and use these as affirmations throughout your day. For example, “I am a woman who embraces challenges with curiosity”. I personally like to set my affirmations up as reminders in my calendar app and also start my morning journal session by reading them and using them to help me set my intentions for the day of who I intend to be.

Finally, your language shift comes full circle when you take actions aligned with your new identity and your new limitless language. So the final step is to choose one action you identified in step 2 of this process and act on it. This could be actions like setting daily intentions with your new I AM affirmation, engaging in a morning journal ritual that reflects your limitless perspective, or simply making choices that the new empowered version of you would make. So choose one action that you can easily implement today and start with that.

Then it's important to track your progress through daily reflections and recognizing even the smallest wins to help you solidify your new evolved identity into who you naturally be. You might like to do this at the end of each day, by simply taking a few moments to recognize when you used your new limitless language in your thoughts and conversations during the day, and how it affected the action that you took as a result.

Now, you can use this entire process to shift all of your limiting words, however, it is important to take this one word at a time. This process isn't just about changing the words you use, you're transforming the way you think, how you feel, and how you interact with the world. It's about moving from a place of self-imposed limitations to one of expansive potential. So, don't rush this process. Trying to change every word at once will likely mean you change no words. Change does take time, so take your time with this and work on shifting one limiting word at a time to your new limitless language.

And my hope from our conversation today is that you can now see that language is a powerful tool, and with mindful practice and intentional word choices, you can use it to create a life that truly is limitless.

Start with one word that you uncover in this process and gradually introduce the others as you make progress. Remember, this process is about progress, not perfection. So say YES! to the process and to embracing it with curiosity and compassion for yourself, knowing that even the smallest shift in your vocabulary can lead to profound changes in your reality. I encourage you to start today. Start with one word at a time and watch as your world starts to transform around you.

And that's all I have for you today, my friend. I share more tips and insights into the Self-Creation process in my weekly newsletter, CREATED. So, if you haven't yet signed up to receive your copy, you can add your name at selfcreationschool.com/created. And I'll leave that link in the show notes for you as well.

As always, thanks so much for joining me and stay tuned for another episode of The Self-Creation School podcast next Wednesday.

Until then, be the woman who says YES!

Hey, have you joined my FREE mini-workshop the Week of YES!? This powerful five-day workshop will help you take your foot off the brake and start saying YES! to more of the life you crave. Isn't it time you created a life you're beyond excited to wake up to? It all begins with saying YES!. Head over to https://selfcreationschool.com/weekofyes and get started on your YES! story today. I'll see you there.