Tag: Psychology

Dear Sender(s),

Greetings and I hope that this reaches you well.  I know that you have probably emailed me with the intention of conducting a survey, interview, or maybe even to discuss matters pertaining to your practicum or internship.

Now, I understand that it is the 21st century and electronic mail is an acceptable medium to convey your request.  However, simply sending a generic message (which, at times, I’ve also noticed is carbon copied to several of your other prospects) or–worse yet–a forwarded message with neither a subject line nor email body can be, well, quite unappealing.

Sender, always remember that when you send these kinds of requests to professionals, you are also trying to make a good first impression with the hope that it may lead to your desired request.  Sending emails in the manner that I have described earlier simply shows me that you think very little of my time–our time. Continue reading “An Open Letter to the People who have Emailed Me Recently (March 2, 2019)”

I will periodically update this post as more “key” words come to my attention.

In a therapeutic setting, I have heard the following words–not often, but often enough–uttered by patients:

I will try…

or

I can’t do…

or

It’s so hard… or It’s so difficult…

Now there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the words “try,” “can’t,” “hard,” or “difficult” but if one hopes to facilitate a certain degree of change in their lives, I feel that how they view or present their situation is equally important.  Proverbial change starts from within–a journey that instantaneously begins with the redefinition of one’s lexicon.

Master Yoda was right

During Luke Skywalker failed attempt to lift his X-Wing from the murky swamps of Dagobah, Yoda told a beleaguered Luke, “Do…or do not.  There is no try.”

Whenever someone says that they will “try,” I find the odds of them fulfilling the given task–whatever it may be–dropping dramatically.  “Try” has become to go-to word to bridge a difficult conversation into a far more comfortable.  The easiness of this transition has to stop and the one way to do is would be to remove the word entirely from your lexicon.

The same can be said for the words “can’t,” “hard,” and “difficult.”  How would you know that you “can’t” do a specific task or that it is “hard” or “difficult” if you haven’t done it consistently yet?

We define consistently as engaging in the said activity regularly over a period of 60 days.

Make that change

If you want to make some changes in your own life but need some assistance, you can schedule an appointment with me.

I’d be more than happy to help.