Never Speak In Absolutes

by Kenneth Vogt
Content Crooner Inc.

One definition of the word absolute is as follows: not to be doubted or questioned. With that definition, it is easy to see why Absolutes are very comforting to many people. They define the borders in which we must act. They give stability, and to many people stability is always a good thing. However, pure stability is a period of no growth. A healthy business is growing. As in most areas of life, you are either growing or moving backwards. Therefore, the idea of stability in business really means not so much a condition of controlled growth but rather a condition of slow atrophy.

Every business wants to have strong, important goals. It is important to set up mission statements and other verbal frameworks that define your goals. Words shape intention, and intention shapes reality, so using positive, action oriented language is usually a good thing. You should avoid framing your words in absolutes, because once you do, you have formed the intention of a fixed situation, one in which no growth is possible.

So what are absolutes? Essentially, this is saying "I will never", "I will always", "you must", "you have to", and the fatal "It can't". Human nature loves the idea of absolutes, but in actuality, they are very rare. When we say, "that always happens", or "that can't happen", what we are really saying is that we usually see that happen, or that we have not seen something happen. Shakespeare once said, "There are more things under heaven and earth....than are dreamt of", which is one way of saying "everything happens sometime, somewhere".

Humans like absolute statements, but we know that they are not true. Your mother-in-law does not always complain, she simply complains often. The problem with absolute statements is that the more often we say them, the more often we begin to forget that they are simply an expression. When you say that you will never do business a certain way, you are practically assuring that you will never be able to learn to do business that way. Because business conditions are constantly changing, you may ensure that you will not be able to change with the times. Imagine if an innovative, growing company had said 20 years ago that computers were a fad and they would never do business in any virtual reality?

For growth to happen in any area of our life, you must set up the conditions that allow for growth. The next time you find yourself tempted to use the words "never", "always" or "couldn't" or "must", take a few moments to examine what you really mean to say, and then try to rephrase in a way that allows for fuller expression of your potential. In fact, reread the title of this article to say, "Why You Should Avoid Speaking in Absolutes".

Kenneth Vogt is CEO of Content Crooner, a high quality content distribution service that gets you more targeted web traffic. Discover how to create quality content that drives targeted traffic to your web site in our free report.

Article submitted Saturday, November 26, 2011 & read 2 times.

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