Hello, and happy Wednesday to you. First of all, I’m so sorry for the delay in getting this week’s edition of English Tools out to you. I hope that for the next edition we’ll be able to deliver on time on Monday morning.

In this edition:

• Caution: You Are What you Think About – Can your thinking help or work against you as you learn English?
• Reading Challenge: Something To Think About, by Zig Ziglar.

Have you ever heard the expression: “You are what you eat?” It means that if you eat foods that are bad for your body, your body will eventually start showing the results. (You’ll get fatter, you’ll feel weaker, you won’t have enough energy, and you may even get sick.)

Question: Do you think that is true? (That you are what you eat?) If you’re not sure, I would like to challenge you to go to your nearest video store and see if you can find this movie: “Super Size Me.” (Watch the trailer here.)  When I saw this movie, I decided to never again go to McDonald’s. But we always seem to look at the negative side of ‘You are what you eat.’  We are aware that if we eat fatty or greasy foods, we’re damaging our body. But the opposite is also true. The positive side of this then is, ‘If I eat foods that are nutritious, my body will become stronger. I will feel happier, and I will have more energy.’

Do you agree with that idea? If I feed myself bad food, my body will pay for it. But if I feed my body nutritious foods, my body will be happy because of it. Right? Right!

So what does good nutrition have to do with learning English??

That’s a great question, and here’s an idea for you to think about today: You are what you think about. All of us tell ourselves things about ourselves. Have you ever noticed that? If you are having a great day, and things are going great – maybe you just aced a presentation or sold a product to a customer, you’re likely telling yourself great things like: “I rock!!” “I’m so excited about my life right now!” “I did a really, really good job on that!”  I don’t know what you tell yourself when things are going well for you, but chances are, it’s something positive.

And what happens as you send yourself those positive messages? They make you feel even better, right? And you actually begin to believe that those messages are true. And then what happens to your actions as a result? Do you find that you begin to feel bolder? That you could deal with any problem that comes your way?

I know that’s how I feel. When things are going right, and my ‘internal message service’ is sending me positive ideas, I believe them, and I feel a lot more confident.

But what happens when your internal messages are NEGATIVE?

Maybe you’re having a bad day. Or worse: a bad week, or worser still: a bad month. It happens to all of us. When things aren’t going well, it’s not that easy to keep a positive attitude, is it? And harder still: have your internal messaging service send you positive messages. Usually it doesn’t happen. In fact, it’s usually just the opposite, right? You’re feeling frustrated, sad, depressed, or worried about what’s going on in your life right now, and your ‘self talk’ is totally joining in with negative messages of its own.

Have you ever heard yourself say: “Sometimes I really hate myself!” “I can’t do anything right!” “This is never going to work.” “What’s the point in trying, I’m never going to succeed at _____________.”

And have you ever followed what happens after you think those negative thoughts about yourself? Do you find that you feel happy? Excited about your future? Ready to take any problem that comes your way? I know I don’t. I feel just the opposite! I feel like if I have one more problem this week, I’ll fall apart. I feel like avoiding those issues instead of dealing with them immediately. (Mainly because I feel like I CAN’T deal with them.)

And now the English application part….

Situation: You just opened your e-mail inbox to find an invitation to a telephone conference with your company’s head office. You notice that most of the people on the call will be native English speakers. “Great.” You think. “The call will be in English.”

Go ahead and think about it. What would be your immediate reaction? What thoughts are going through your mind? Are you panicing? Are you looking for a way to avoid that call? Are you hoping that a giant hole will open up under your seat and swallow you hole?  If you’re thinking like this, your ‘internal message service’ is likely sending you ideas like this: “I can’t do this!” “I’m going to make so many mistakes, I’ll look and sound like an idiot!” “I can’t. I can’t. I can’t!”

The result: Very likely EXACTLY what you’ve been thinking about. You won’t be able to speak in English when it’s your turn. You’ll remain safely silent in the back of the room, trying your best NOT to be noticed. If you do need to speak, you’ll likely make so many mistakes that you’ll look and feel like an idiot. Right?

Here’s what you should do…

1. Keep a journal. For the next week, I challenge you to write some of your internal ‘self talk.’ What are you normally telling yourself about yourself? Is it normally positive, or is it normally negative?  Pay careful attention to this. It’s VERY important. Take a careful look at how you think about your English speaking skills too. What do you tell yourself about how you speak?

2. Edit your messaging service. When you notice negative self talk, replace it with something positive. If you’re constantly telling yourself something like: “I can never speak English right. I suck at this.” Rewrite it to this: “I can speak English. I’m not perfect, but I’m working on it.” Or something like this: “I’m getting better at English each day because I’m practicing.”

3. Memorize, and Meditate. If you want to change something in your life, start by changing how you think about it. Every time you hear your ‘inner voice’ saying something negative about your English speaking skills, STOP IT. Stop it IMMEDIATELY, and then say your new message to yourself. Repeat as many times as necessary.

Maybe this sounds silly or weird to you, but I promise you it works. It may take time, but it works.

What’s your opinion? Do you think that your thoughts can help you or work against you? Any stories you’d like to tell? Send me a comment, I’d love to hear from you.

No questions this week. Just read, enjoy, and most importantly: try and APPLY what this article is talking about: Something To Think About.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s edition of English Tools. Please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you with your English today!

(Photo by Pink Sherbet Photography)