I used to work with this woman who would consistently say things like: “When my ship comes in, I’ll be at the train station.” All her friends would laugh at her hard knock life comments, but I never did because I didn’t think it was funny to be committed to your own miery. On the one hand, she was right. Her life does seem pretty lousy, but I wonder if it would have been better if she wasn’t complaining all the time. Motivational speaker Jonathan Sprinkles weighs in.
“You will never outperform what you believe you should have,” says Sprinkles, adding: “Your expectation is your destination, whatever you believe is right for yourself that’s what you are going to achieve…. If you look at the conditioning that a lot of us have had — especially African-Americans in this country — we are brought up to believe that we are a second-class citizen, that we are sort of the underclass in America. Going back to the Bible on how you can turn around belief systems: You have to speak what is not, as though it were until it is. You have to declare to life what you are. Whatever you attach to the phrase: “I am,” you will eventually become. And that can work for you positively or negatively.That’s why you have to be careful about watching your words.”
In other words, if you’re always making statements like: “I’m fat,” “I’m tired” or “I have rotten luck with men” you are just reinforcing the problem. And all that grumbling is sort of a lazy. Ask yourself: Are you doing anything to better the situation or are you just talking?
“Whatever you say, that’s what you become.” says Sprinkles. “You put it out there in the world and then that’s what begins to manifest in your life. The more you’re confident about yourself, the more you love yourself, the more there will be about you to love.”
