Your words become the house you live in. In fact, the way we speak has a huge impact on our ability to succeed and be happy in life, although most people aren’t aware of it and don’t even deliberately choose the words they use every day.
The impact of negative words
A study conducted at Brookhaven National Laboratory found that the systematic use of negative words ultimately causes an alteration in hormone and neurotransmitter levels. This experiment found that seeing the word “no” for just one second stimulated the release of cortisol, the stress hormone.
These changes in brain chemistry immediately affect our logic, as well as our ability to communicate and process information. In the long term, they could seriously affect essential brain structures linked to memory and emotional control.
In fact, if we ask a person to read a list of negative words, in just a few seconds we can worsen their mood and cause them to ruminate. It has also been observed that the effect of negative words is amplified when we verbalize them.
The problem is that words we attribute a negative meaning to immediately activate the amygdala, our emotional command center, which searches for past associations that inform its decision-making and allow it to assess the emotional risk posed by such a statement. And since negative words are usually associated with negative experiences, they become a warning message for our brain.
Therefore, changing the way we speak can represent a great transformation in our lives.
Use more positive words
Our language is very rich. We have thousands of words to choose from, so there’s no need to constantly use words with negative meanings. For example, did you know that the RAE (Spanish Royal Academy) has cataloged a total of 270 million lexical entries and that we can find more than 1.3 million synonyms in the Woxikon dictionary? However, it’s estimated that a person typically uses only 500 to 1,000 words.
Still, we can make an effort to expand our vocabulary and use more “positive” words. In fact, positive sentence structures have been shown to trigger a neural chain reaction that propels us to action. And the good news is that we can all activate that “volition switch” by choosing certain words, particularly verbs.
In this regard, an experiment conducted at the Université Claude Bernard in Lyon found that when we hear verbs related to a physical action, the strength with which we grip objects automatically increases. However, if the words are presented in their negative form, no change occurs.
To understand the true impact of words on the brain, we must go back to 1963, when John Eccles won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for discovering the ionic mechanism of excitation and inhibition of brain synapses. Eccles also discovered that just milliseconds before a person decides to take an action, specific neurons in the cortex fire an electrical signal that activates motor neurons.
What does it mean? How can these discoveries be applied to positive words?
Eccles believed that activating just a few neurons was enough to create a domino effect within the brain, triggering millions of synapses. Neuroscientists have confirmed this hypothesis with modern technology. They’ve seen that words like “Go. Jump. Attack ” activate several brain areas, while words like “Stop. Sit. Look ” produce a state of inhibition.
Therefore, it’s important that we pay more attention to the words we use every day because they directly impact our brains, leaving a mark. Listen to your inner dialogue and make sure it doesn’t become your enemy and your main obstacle. Because what you tell yourself can become a prophecy.
3 words you should pay more attention to
1. STILL: The most powerful word in the vocabulary
We often say things like, “I can’t learn to speak English” or “I don’t know how to lose weight.” However, these are phrases that demotivate us, that make us throw in the towel before we even start. With these phrases, we convince ourselves that we can’t achieve it. However, if we add a little word at the beginning, everything changes. In fact, read those phrases again, adding “yet.”
It’s a tiny change, but this way we’re motivating ourselves. We’re telling our brain that what we want hasn’t happened “yet” but could happen in the future, provided we put our minds to it. Instead of closing a door, we’re opening a window to possibility.
2. Eliminate the word BUSY from your life
The word “busy” has become fashionable, especially among younger generations. Everyone is too busy, as if that means they’re doing very important things, that they’re not wasting their lives. However, in reality, that’s not the case. We can be busy with things that are completely unimportant or that don’t bring us any kind of satisfaction or well-being.
Remember that when you want it, you make time. When you don’t, you make excuses. Constantly telling yourself you’re busy will only trick your brain into thinking you have too many things to do, causing mental overdrive that adds unnecessary stress. However, being extremely busy isn’t essential to having a productive day.
3. Be careful when using SHOULD
The word “should” doesn’t imply a positive action. In fact, it usually means that we must do something that doesn’t satisfy us just because someone is imposing it on us, either directly or indirectly. Therefore, when you use this word often, you should stop and think about what’s behind it. Perhaps you’re trapped in a situation that’s making you unhappy and that you can’t get out of because your sense of duty to others prevents you from doing so.
On the other hand, the word “should” also tends to generate unrealistic expectations and can induce a sense of guilt when we fail to accomplish what we set out to do. It also diminishes our willingness to get started—after all, we’re not speaking in the present tense but in the future.
References:
Aravena, P. et. Al. (2012) Grip Force Reveals the Context Sensitivity of Language-Induced Motor Activity during “Action Words” Processing: Evidence from Sentential Negation. PlosOne; 7(12).
Goldstein, R.Z. et. Al. (2007) What is in a word? No versus Yes differentially engage the lateral orbitofrontal cortex. Emotion; 7(3): 649-659.
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