Positive Language Can Bring You Luck – Banish the Word IF

To be lucky, you have to use lucky language, and lucky language is positive language.

To have positive language, you have to think positively. You have to see, you have to believe in yourself—and then you have to reflect that belief in the words that you use.

Shut off all the media, the newspapers, and the television. Protect yourself from anything that promotes negativity in thought, in word, or in deed. Being positive is key.

People ask me, Mark, how did you prepare for “Chicken Soup for the Soul?”

We taped our success goals on the mirror at my house and posted them in Jack’s house, my office, and Jack’s office; and then we embellished our list. I had interviewed the 101 bestselling authors because I wanted to be prepared, and I was prepared. One of the authors was Dr. Scott Peck, who wrote The Road Less Traveled, which had been number one for 12 years and had made $40 million. He told us all these keys to being a successful writer. For example, you’ve got to do at least one interview every day for the rest of your life.

Everyone thinks they are going to be number one. You guys are going to sell 20,000 books, and that is going to be good; we’re going to do cartwheels. Then we did a million and a half in a year and a half, and then 50 million, and then 144 million. Now our goal is a perfect 20/20 vision, because we’re prepared to sell a billion books. Now, no one has ever done that before in a human lifetime.

We didn’t talk in terms of if, we talked in terms of when!

What’s the problem with that one word: if?

If gives you a fall-back position so you can use an excuse of breaking a leg or getting sick or slowing down.

“If” means it might not happen.

If connotes the negative. It lets you off the hook, and you don’t get the force you’re capable of delivering. But a “when” says I’m committed!

You need to use positive language, and you need to be prepared.