Studies have verified the importance for sales professionals to be optimistic. As Ralph Waldo Emerson taught,

“The sign of mental health is to see good in everything.”

Optimism is a philosophy that allows one to expect the very best, and if the results don’t initially materialize it directs them to find the positive from the event. With that in mind, it is important that we become aware of our thoughts, feelings, and language and the impact it has in our lives. If the philosophy of Optimism is going to take root in our lives in an ongoing, ever increasing basis then we need to address our language.

If your perception is grounded in Optimism shouldn’t your language reflect that orientation? When you focus on the words that you use every day then you would have gone a long way in the adoption of Optimism as a way of life. You further strengthen the foundation that you are building in your life. The initial questions should be for all of us are; does my language reflect my temperament? Do my words adequately express my inner working to the world? Our language illuminates for all our attitudes and perceptions of our world. There are three types of language that the philosophy addresses: Internal, interpersonal, and a public. First, listen to how you speak to yourself internally when you fall short of your expectations, temporarily miss the mark, or make a mistake unknowingly. Are the words encouraging, empathic, and engaging, or are they attacking, insensitive and debilitating? The first step is to address your internal dialogue and take corrective action to become loving and nurturing to the very person who can make your dreams come true.

The second area of language involves our interpersonal relationships. How do you speak to your family, friends, and colleagues? Language is not limited to just sounds, rather it is a movement that fills the inner and outer content of emotions and meaning and communication is not confined to just mere words. Lastly, how do we speak in public to strangers? The Optimist take control of their language by enriching it with the positive, powerful, and the possible with words that build up people and not tear them down. They see and communicate the challenges and opportunities, and not the problems and limitations. As my grandfather would say,

“They see the doughnut and not just the hole.”

This is an excerpt from James M. Rankin’s book entitled, The Optimistic Manifesto due to be released in November.