Language Helps Us Make Things Happen

Language helps us make things happen because it has power. Thanks to this resource we not only describe realities, we also generate them. Because the word is never neutral, it leaves a mark and drives us to action. Our voice, in turn, creates links or establishes distances, makes ideas clear, reaffirms us in certain positions and allows us to outline our identity.

Ludwig Wittgenstein, a well-known philosopher, mathematician and linguist used to say that the limits of the world are marked by our language. This somewhat disturbing expression at first glance contains curious evidence. Our reality is collected and described by the words we use every day.

For example, we call children who have lost their parents orphans. We call people widowers or widows who have lost their spouses. However, in most of our languages we have not yet given names to those fathers and mothers who lose their children and even those who suffer the loss of a sibling.

Therefore, there is a void in our reality, there are invisible entities and sufferings that have no name,  but that still occur every day in any part of the world. What’s more, all of us experience emotions that have not yet been named. We live sensations, concerns and pleasures that do not always have their entry in dictionaries.

We contemplate details in nature and in everyday life that our minds cannot express through language, but that are still there. For this reason, sometimes we wonder with some surprise if someone else has felt the same thing, if it is legal to experience that suffering that is not described in books, that has no label, gender or verb tense.

Language helps us make things happen: decrees that you must comply with

Language helps us make things happen. However, for this to happen, certain steps must be taken, certain strategies that will allow us to be generators of changes and more integral and happy realities. We already know that what we do not give a name to does not seem to exist or to be relegated to that space of uncertainty, where oneself ends up dealing with their own problems.

So one thing linguists tell us is that language does not determine thought. That is, as we have already pointed out, there are many sensations and experiences that have not yet been translated into words. However, something we do know from a psychological point of view is that language encourages us to action, language helps us make things happen as long as we implement the following decrees.

First decree: your language describes you, take care of how you speak

Paul Anwandter, a well-known author of several books on coaching and an expert in neurolinguistic programming, points out the following. Human beings create themselves through language. You are what you say about yourself, you are what you say you are going to do, you are the way you describe and communicate with others. You are also what you choose to be silent and what you choose to communicate.

Therefore, knowing this, we have an opportunity within our reach: to transform ourselves through language. For this we can attend the following dimensions:

• We must speak to ourselves in a positive and respectful way. Studies such as the one carried out at the University of Texas by Dr. Kristin Nef, shows us that affectionate communication with oneself allows us to take care of our identity and self-esteem.

• Communication with others must also be respectful. What we give to others also has an impact on us. A bad word has an emotional cost for all parties.
• On the other hand it is necessary to be consistent. If we want to generate a change in ourselves, let us ensure that our language is in tune with that objective. Let’s avoid the “I can not, this is not for me sure that I will fail, others will do it better than me, etc.”

Second decree: language transforms, create your own reality

Language helps us make things happen because it has a transformative power. In addition, it creates possibilities, reaffirms us in our position and motivates us to be persistent. To better understand this idea we will put some examples:

• Language is action because it determines thought : tomorrow I will enroll in that opposition, tomorrow I will call that person to ask for an appointment, today I will tell my boss that I no longer intend to allow his attitude …  These phrases determine and encourage us in many cases to meet those goals.
• Language creates possibilities : if you give someone a “no” you are closing a door in your life that was necessary for you. If you give a “yes” to a project, you are creating new paths.

Third decree: trust and action

If we want to create a change, if we aspire to feel better, to solve a problem or reach a goal, we need an internal compass. A compass calibrated to that North where trust and action are. Because if we don’t commit to ourselves, being consistent and persistent, there will be no movement.

Language helps us make things happen as long as we are brave. We must be willing to claim what we want without fear. Mentalized to make clear what we do not want, to persevere in the face of difficulties, encouraging ourselves through nurturing words.

To conclude, let us never hesitate to name what we feel and want. Language is our best instrument for action. We must use it in order to create better relationships, heal problems and always be consistent with what we think and do.