What's In Your Dictionary?: Omissions

Words that are not in OUR Dictionary

Words are more powerful than we usually think. And that power can propel you to greatness or prohibit you from reaching your ultimate potential. We will look at words that can direct us the wrong way, weaken us or just cause us to doubt. This weekend’s Runner of the Week article included an allusion to the famous Yoda line in The Empire Strikes Back – "Do… or do not. There is no try." So the little 3-letter word at the end of the quote is the first word we will banish from our dictionary.

This is a pretty heady quote that can be viewed from different angles to grasp its meaning. I promote that it is all about mind-set, commitment and will power. Twice in my high school days, with a side ache or breathing problems, I stopped in the middle of a race. As the runner behind me offered words of encouragement, I promised “I’ll catch up”… or “I WILL catch up.” In both cases, much to their surprise, I did. I did not try… I did not tell them I would try… I said I would – and I always intend to keep my promises. Just “Trying” is giving yourself a way out before you start.

Keeping your word (or not keeping it) is who you are! (BTW, I am fairly careful about what I promise to do.) Stating that you “WILL” is promising to yourself and to others that your will power will ensure that it happens. You say it – you do it!!! Sometimes you don’t have to say it – it is just implied. Sometimes things don’t go as smoothly as expected, but it is our duty to do the job and do it with the expected level of quality - or beyond.

There is another word Luke Skywalker used at the beginning of the clip that we should probably never use (oops – I just used it!!!). For all of you Justin Bieber fans out there, sorry I did not reference his song – I am a Styx fan. I don’t think we should banish that 5-letter word from our dictionary, but we should probably use it very sparingly.

I think that is enough on words that “give us an easy way out.” Now let’s look at two of the big words that propel us in the wrong direction…

First is “Negativity.” This word will destroy yourself first, then the others around you. Negativity is a mental cancer that will destroy you from the inside out. One of my former athletes is now battling cancer, and I see the biggest smile on her face on Facebook Posts. She is fighting cancer by discarding negative thoughts and words. It starts with your negative thinking and when it spreads to your vocabulary, it will resonate in your head as well as the others around you. So Negativity is the next word that we discard from our Dictionary.

This next word will destroy your team first, and thus, in time, undermine your own success. For those that have been to Steens Mt. Running Camp, you will remember this word from the Harland talk the day after the “Big Day” – “Selfish.” When you get tired or discouraged, it is so easy to get selfish. The teammate who never loses site of all the other teammates will be instrumental in developing an incredible team. So the word “Selfish” no longer exists!

In order to set ourselves apart from ordinary teams, we must omit many common words from our vocabulary. And that may lead us to ripping out pages in our dictionary – stay tuned for that!