Did you do a double take on that headline? 

Did you think I was careless and made a typo? 

If you didn’t, congrats on being “detail-oriented” (I am on my resume.) 

If you did then you’re just like me. I read those words three times just to make sense of them in Susan Jeffers book Embracing Uncertainty (because yep, even in the middle of a great project, meaningful work,and great opportunity, lies weird transition-mode and full-blown uncertainty.) Not only is this a pretty big typo, I thought, but in the self-help genre it’s pretty careless to make a mistake like that knowing that your audience lives for the right words to inspire them. Warrior/worrier could make or break someone’s day, no?

Might sound melodramatic, but I believe Hazrat Inayat Khan when he says, “Words that enlighten the soul are more precious than jewels.”

Words matter. They matter to your grey matter. Words make a difference. I read books – whether business and marketing or spiritual – with full consciousness of what I’m consuming, and I’m serious about which words I give my attention to. Here’s why:

Words have a power and energy that goes beyond our subconscious mind. They sink in in ways we can’t quite make sense of. So when I realized it wasn’t a typo, I let the words really sink in and thought about the distinction between Warrior and worrier. It was this time – when I wasn’t judging, just contemplating, that I saw what a profound effect this seemingly little moment had on me. Like when i finally understood how to calculate tip at the end of a meal.

Here’s where I think Ms. Jeffers was going with this metaphor (illustrated by an embarrassing, but honest story.)

Tuesday I woke up with a mountain of anxiety. Too much to do, “branding” decisions which questioned my core, little control over resources. What’d I do? I freaked. I sat overwhelmed by it all and didn’t write the blog I wanted to, didn’t exercise and didn’t even order-in dinner let alone cook it. And on and on and on. I was a puddle lying on the floor in fetal position. You know how it is. 

Totally gave in to my worrier. Not only did I not do my “work” but I felt defeated that I succumbed to the spiral of negative thinking that has a life of it’s own. 

Cut to Wednesday, where I introspected a bit, regained (some) control over my mind, and made some progress.  Thursday rolls in and what happens? I wake up and house things. I rock out, do my work, make decisions, execute, delegate. All the stuff that the warrior part of myself naturally does. I felt powerful and efficient.

So what really changed? Same bed, same breakfast, same Lipton tea. Nothing at all, really.

Except EVERYTHING. I made the one defining choice that structured how my day went. I identified with the Warrior. I remembered what Tuesday felt like and chose to override every lame thought, idea, or habit pattern (because habits are a whole different category of crazy) that entered my mind that day. Did I wake up with anxiety, for sure. I don’t think entrepreneurs go for days (or moments) without it. Did I have too much to do? Yes. Did I have more control over resources than I did earlier? Not really, just had more control over my perception.

The only difference was my choice. I just chose to be the Warrior-me. I chose to give power to the parts of myself which moved me forward, not kept me in stagnant thinking. I realize how much of our daily state of mind, our thoughts, and in turn our actions, are influenced by the words we choose to identify with. The visuals and images and words that uplift us and make us remember our true inner potential, or the words that bring us down, are critical of ourselves and others, words that leave us in a cycle of self-hatred. 

The similarity in the words is THE point. The only point. 

Intellectually, i’ve known the power behind our choice of words, but this typo moment spun my head around it on a molecular level.

I was going to put a “worrier” pic next to the Warrior up there too – just to be fair to the side that’s within all of us and needs love and likes attention, but NO. Like words, visuals have power. And I’m choosing to focus on what makes me strong. The WARRIOR. The powerful, divine, honest, and strong part of myself that allows me to move forward.

Sometimes he kicks it with his worrier counterpart, othertimes he just kicks his ass.