728: Victim speak. You are doing it. Stop.

You daily, if not hourly, speak a series of words that take away your personal power. That steal your opportunity for power and control of your life. You may think it’s benign, but it absolutely is not. I brought on a special guest to discuss the issue. In this episode I have a dramatic mind hack for you. I’m actually not a fan of the whole “hack” terminology, as I don’t believe they exist...everything is a process. But this is one is hard not to give the “hack” label to, as it’s a very significant mind and life bender. The premise is, in many ways we’ve become a culture of victims. We justify and blame at an alarming rate. If right away you think, “Hey, that’s not me!” I did too, as I am not prone to place blame on others and I take full responsibility for myself. But wait, what about the circumstances? Even there, I thought…”I don’t make excuses!” Then I started listening to what I say and how often I make statements starting with, "I have to _____", "I've got to _____", "I need to _____". It’s just human nature, no different than when we see someone and say, “How are you doing?!” We aren’t actually asking how they are doing, it’s just a cliche’ way to say hi in America. Likewise, we habitually say things like, “Well ok, I’ve got to go to work now!” And, “Hey, I’ve gotta go pick up my kids.” Or, “Oh my gosh, I need to clean the house.” These are all, in truth, victim statements. They place blame on an object or circumstance or task and it takes us away from personal responsibility and the reality that pretty much 100% of all we do are things we want and choose to do. So I asked the question to the Ziglar audience, “Do you think it would be possible for you to replace all of these statements: "I have to _____", "I've got to _____", "I need to _____" - With: "I want to _____" ???? The very first response said, “Yes!” and the second said, “ If you want to lie to yourself”. The discussion went on from there. I brought on a special guest Dan Miller. My Dad. The reason why, I divulge right up front.

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