The Power of
Your Words
To
make sure we get off on the right foot, this message is aimed at
me as much as anyone else.
You
hear a lot of high-sounding words thrown around these days: muscle memory, self-talk,
verbal programming. They all boil down to the
same simple, hard truth. The drumbeat you keep hearing—whether
it's true or a steaming pile of nonsense—is the one you start
marching to. When a statement gets repeated often enough, in your
ear or in your own head, you eventually start to believe it.
That, folks, is how you build a reality, or how you tear one
down.
Now,
if you’ve been following my work, you know I don’t deal in doom
and gloom. Why? Because you have a choice in this life: you can
choose to be a positive force or a negative drag. I’ve found that
a positive
attitude isn't just about feeling good; it’s the engine that keeps the
lathe spinning. It encourages me, motivates me,
and keeps me drilling down until the task is done, no matter how
much sawdust I have to wade through. And as a bonus? That spark
of positive energy usually catches fire with the people around
me, making the whole shop a better place to be.
The
actor Jason Statham—a guy who clearly understands action—once put
it this way: “If
someone tells you that you can’t do something, do it twice and
take pictures.” Now that’s the kind of attitude a
craftsman needs.
I
remember distinctly asking a famous woodturner from England,
right here at our home in Georgia, if a person could actually make a good living turning
wood. He paused, looked me dead in the eye, and
gave me a resounding "Yes!" followed by the punchline:
"As long as you can live well on $15,000 a year."
It
took time, and yes, other income paid the freight in the
meantime. We had bills to cover, just like everyone else. But
after two decades of steady work, we’ve done very well. It brings
to mind Minnie Minoso, the beloved Cuban-born baseball player and
All-Star, who famously said, with perfect grammar: “Baseball has been very,
very good to me.” Well, let me just say the same
about the craft of wood turning for the Brown family.
So,
here’s the key takeaway, the piece of advice you can put to work
today: Stop
cutting yourself off at the knees. Avoid saying
things like, “I’ll try, but it probably won’t work, it never
does,” or “I can never get this right,” or “I don’t even know why
I try.” That kind of talk doesn't belong in the shop.
Instead,
change the narrative. Start saying things like, “It should work
this time!”, or “I’ll bet I get it right this time!”, or “It is
bound to work if I try one more time.”
Look,
I’m not saying the universe hands you a perfect bowl just because
you spoke it into existence. That’s pure fantasy. But I am saying
that I find I’m much
more successful, far more often, when I begin
with a solid, positive statement about my ability to succeed.
It’s about committing to the task.
The
good book says that “life
and death are in the power of the tongue.”
That’s a serious proposition. Speak life and light into your
world. It'll bless you and everyone you’re working with. Just
remember the old adage: wherever you go, there you are. So make
sure you show up with the right attitude.
Here
is my inspiration for this message:
(Prov
18:21 [NASB77]) Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit.
(Heb
4:12 [MSG]) God means what he says. What he says goes. His
powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon's scalpel, cutting through
everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen
and obey.
(Deut
28:2-6 [MSG]) I read 28:1-14 every morning to set the tone for
the day.
All
these blessings will come down on you and spread out beyond you
because you have responded to the Voice of GOD, your God: GOD's
blessing inside the city, GOD's blessing in the country; GOD's
blessing on your children, the crops of your land, the young of
your livestock, the calves of your herds, the lambs of your
flocks. GOD's blessing on your basket and bread bowl; GOD's
blessing in your coming in, GOD's blessing in your going out.
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