Ten Powerful Phrases for Positive People

I chose to begin with "I'm wrong" because it's the hardest of the phrases to say and genuinely mean. It's tough to admit when we're wrong, even to ourselves, and harder still to say out loud, "I'm wrong" - especially to those whom we care for most or want most to care about us.

Saying "I'm wrong" is meaningless unless it comes from our heart, not just our lips. That often requires a genuine and profound change within ourselves, because we need to accept that we can be wrong. Even if that admission hurts, we need to realize it's simply human nature and that everyone makes mistakes. We also need to realize that we can have a positive impact on the lives of others when we admit to them that we were wrong.

Our outward expression of admitting wrong can serve as an example of our willingness to change and can inspire others to change in positive ways. A positive impact stems from our admission that we were wrong or our thinking was wrong. "I'm wrong" are two little words that can help improve our own positive attitude. It's all part of this shift in our decision to create a positive atmosphere instead of a negative one. If you've been wrong, say so!

Along with saying "I'm wrong," we have to be sorry for it. By being wrong we may have hurt somebody in the process, so our admission must e more than something technical or mechanical - simply saying the other person was right, and we were wrong. When we wrong someone, that person is going to respond to us and spill some anger. We have to let him or her know we are sincerely sorry for what we did. It's so easy to try to defend our position, but it's amazing how many problems disappear once we decided to say we're sorry. All the anger and emotion fall away. The positive impact far outweighs our reluctance to admit we have feet of clay or to risk a loss of stature and bruises to the ego.

This is a remarkable chapter focusing on the fact that you can do it and having that attitude. Rich very honestly shares the business failures he has had along the way and how having a "can do" attitude has helped to overcome each obstacle that they have faced.

Some of my favourite quotes from this chapter are:

A Student asked me at a college banquet recently, "What's the most important thing a young person like me should know? And I said to her, "You need to develop a philosophy of "You can do it." Whatever you want to do, you can do it." She seemed surprised. Maybe no one had ever told her this before, so I was grateful for the opportunity to try to have a positive influence on a young person.

You can either try or cry - you can put people into two categories: Those who are willing to try, and those who would rather not try and instead sit on the sidelines and cry a bout their lot in life and criticize those who do try. We live in an age when it was not only easy to be a critic, it is popular.

As parents, we need to create a positive atmosphere in our homes. We need to encourage our children that they can do anything they set their minds to do, and that God will bless them and keep his hand upon them. We need to teach our children to trust in God and trust in themselves, believing that God gave them great ability and talents to make a difference in this world.

You will never discover how far you can go if you don't start "doing it". Otherwise you limit your whole life and will always have regrets, thinking, I wish I'd tried that. When you develop that "can do" attitude, it all happens, and the Lord then supplies you and begins to give you answers. You weigh obstacles, but you consider them as just something to overcome instead of a reason to do nothing.

"Set a goal and go fir it. You can do it!"

The Power of Positive Living by Norman Vincent Peale

"Be a Believer = Be an Achiever"

We cannot achieve our highest goals without believing in ourselves. One of the most effective ways we can help others achieve their dreams is to assure them, "I believe in you."

I continue to encourage people to believe, because to me that's key to helping build better communities, stronger families, higher-achieving and happier children, and employees who fulfil their career goals. So I want to do whatever I can to let these people know I believe in them and encourage them to believe in themselves and go on to achieve more than they thought possible.

Too many people accomplish little more than a list of regrets because they doubted rather than believed - because they decided to listen to the negative opinions of others rather than try for themselves. These people could have used a powerful boost by hearing the phrase, I believe in you"

Why not us? Why not now?

We have to believe that we can be the winner, the achiever, the successful person who reaches goals. We have to start now, because if we keep waiting and wondering, we'll never do anything.

The cheers of parents and grand parents mean the most to children. Knowing we are cheering them on builds their confidence and tells them - simply by the fact we took the time and made the effort to be there - that we believe in them. "I believe in you" - whether conveyed by our actions, our attitudes, or our words.

We may only have one chance to perform in ways that leave a positive impression. We may not get a second chance to tell people "I believe in you" or act in a way that lets them know they are important to us. If we miss that opportunity, it's gone.

We all need to be encouraged in our daily work by an employer or co-worker who believes we can do the job well.

I believe that one of the most powerful forces in the world is the will of people who believe in themselves, who dare to aim high, to go confidently after the things that they want from life.

I believe in a God of unlimited potential who empowers people to reach their dreams.

We believe people are worthy and want to work and get ahead.

Norman Vincent Peale's college profession said to him: "believe in himself and believe that God would help him." His prayer was "Lord, you can take a drunk and make him sober; you can change a thief into an honest person. Can't you also take a poor mixed-up guy like me and make me normal?" He said that was the start of a series of miracles than turned him into a believer in himself and a positive thinker.

We need to have the ability to create an atmosphere of belief.

I've seen many people who have made a choice to be confident. They start with uncertainty and a lack of belief in themselves, but with each little success they begin to believe a little more. They eventually discover talents and abilities they never knew they possessed.

You can try or cry. The opposite of "can't " is "try". When you believe in yourself, you can visualize the person you have the potential to be. You can devote yourself totally to achieving your gaols when you break the crying habit and absolutely believe in what you can do. Then you'll also have the confidence to inspire others to believe in themselves. "I believe in you" is an inspirational phrase for leaders to use, for parents tot ell their children or grandchildren, for a friend in need who is going through a tough time, for students to hear from teachers, and for employees to hear from employers."

Just think of who you might set on a new course simply by showing someone you believe in him or her or learning to use the powerful phrase, "I believe in you."

Our desire as children expressed in "Watch me" remains with us for a lifetime - a human need to be recognized and acknowledged by those who mean the most to us. Simply put, we want to feel that they are proud of us. We long for recognition all our lives. We work hard to earn the right to be proud of ourselves. As wonderful as it is to take pride in our accomplishments, the power of that feeling is multiplied manyfold when others go out of their way to announce to us, "I'm proud of you".

I learned quickly in business to appreciate the power of recognizing achievement and how quickly unrecognized achievement can kill incentive. Only saints toil for long in anonymity. When you learn to look for positive things in the lives of others you'll find it easy to tell them you're proud of them. God created each one of us as a unique individual with our own talents and dreams. He's instilled in each of us an awareness that we're special and are here for a purpose. Recognition encourages our God-given desire to do our best. That's not to say we should be arrogant or should not heed the proverb that pride comes before a fall. But let's rejoice with pride that, as the Bible tells us, we are "wonderfully made" and capable of achieving wonderful things.

Beyond saying the words, you need to put it on paper.

Putting the phrase in writing just adds more power.

Nothing conveys a word of thanks or an expression of concern like a note written on paper, tucked into a hand-addressed envelope, and dropped into the mail. Remember how you felt the last time you received a small, a hand-addressed envelope and opened it to find inside a card of thanks or congratulations? I believe even the most important, busiest executive who is flooded daily with emails and other business mail will stop to open such a card.

(Personal note here, I was recently visiting my Brother and Sis-in-law in LA. Their son had written a letter to President Obama, while I'm not sure what my nephew wrote, he did proudly carry around and show the hand-addressed envelope and card that he had received back.)

Because the power of these simple phrases is magnified when sent in writing, sending them in a letter or note is well worth the extra effort. And a simple note need not take a lot of time. I'd recommend keeping a supply of blank note cards or thank-you cards with stamps at the ready. You don't have to be a poet or compose lengthy letters. All that's required is a simple sentiment from the heart that will fit on a small card. The next time you think of thanking that special someone, you can quickly and easily put your thoughts into action. That way, you'll make sure you recognize the people who did a great job, or who many need a word of encouragement, or who just need to know someone is thinking of them. I'm convinced that this, one of the smallest investments we can make, can generate some of the most powerful results.

I find that "I'm proud of you" is especially uplifting for people who typically don't win the awards and rewards of life, who may doubt their abilities and have a tough time finding something to be proud about. That's why it is doubly important for parents and teachers and employers to find ways to say, "I'm proud of you."

Can a few simple words have the power to make a positive impact? Find a reason to tell your children you're proud of them, and see for yourself. "I'm proud of you" is most powerful when said to someone in public, in front of people they respect and admire - their parents, friends, teachers, supervisors or esteemed colleagues.

I want to be a cheerleader in life, because we unfortunately already have our fair share of people who go the opposite direction: tearing down instead of building up. That's why we have to believe in unlimited potential and encourage others to do likewise. How will they ever know if they can paint that picture, runt hat business, sell that product write that book, earn that degree, hold that office, made a speech, win that game - unless they try it? Feeling comfortable saying "I'm proud of you" to anyone who excels in any endeavour is simply a matter of having respect for the dignity of all people.

Make "I'm proud of you" part of your daily vocabulary. I believe each of us was created to achieve a potential. You can help people you know or love reach their full potential by looking for ways you can express your pride in them.

"Thank you" is an acknowledgement of the other person's generosity. It recognises the other person's kindness and the effort that person made of think of us. "Thank you" says we appreciate a job well done and the time someone devoted to develop his or her talents to perform for us or provide a skilled service.

Saying thanks and gestures of thanks are expressions of our love or kind thoughts about an individual. Whoever we give even a small gift, the saying really is true that "it's the thought that counts." But what's most important is that we put our thoughts into action with a gesture: a card, a gift, or any expression of "Thank you. I appreciate you. You do good work and that work helped me."

Just feeling thankful does nothing to demonstrate our gratitude. Too often, we think about saying thanks but somehow don't get around to taking the time.

A demonstration of our gratitude can be as simple as saying "Thank you" or can be more elaborate. When made for the right reason, more elaborate gestures of thanks can do wonders.

People liked to be thanked and they need to be thanked! The well of kindness can dry up when we fail to acknowledge the givers of gifts. Some people contribute significantly because they believe in a cause or from the goodness of their hearts. It takes relatively little in return to thank them.

In addition to thanking the people we appreciate or who have done us a service of kindness, we also need to adjust our attitude to one of being thankful. We have been greatly blessed in this country, and too often we tend to take our blessings for granted. "I thank you". We can never wear out that phrase It should always be on the tip of our tongue if we are truly grateful to others who help us each day and to God who has richly blessed us with more abundance and freedom than any country in history. When thinking about whom to add to our thank-you list, we need to remember each day to Thank God in prayer for the abundance of His blessings.

We are often too slow to give thanks and too quick to complain.

As Norman Vincent Peale preached for many years, if you're worried about your problems and finding difficulty focussing on the positive, "Get Out of Yourself". Start thinking of others. Despite a list of blessings to count each day, we unfortunately can always find something to complain about. If we thought of someone much less fortunate and even helped that person, we would feel much more grateful for our own condition. Peale believed that truly great people live extraordinary lives because they have a habit of thinking about other people and showing them kindness. When we do a kindness for another person we can much better appreciate and be thankful to those who do us a kindness. We can sit down to a meal, for example, thinking only of how the food will satisfy our appetite, or we can stop to appreciate the thought, skill, and effort involved in preparing the meal and be thankful.

Beyond saying "Thank you," adjusting you attitude each day to being thankful for the abundance of God's blessings. If you and your family are healthy, have a roof over your head, food on the table, clothes on your back, and the gifts of love, laughter, and leisure, give thanks to God for His many blessings. And don't forget to share a portion of His blessings with those who have far fewer blessings to count.

I believe in a daily attitude of thankfulness, of expressing thanks for even the smallest favour or consideration, of thanking God in prayers, and of showing my gratitude by sharing His abundance. I believe thankfulness is powerful and one of the keys to a more positive society.

Each of us is needed. Believe it. And tell others - your spouse, your children, your employees, or co-workers, your garbage man or pastor - "I need you"

There is no I in TEAM.

Think of all the people you need or have needed in your life: your parents, your spouse, your teammates and co-workers who made it possible for you to win or to finish a job, that true friends who may have been the only person around during a time of great need, that special teacher of coach who showed you the way, a police officer or fire-fighter in time of danger, the plumber when the pipe broke, our pastor when your spirits were low, your neighbour when you ran out of a key ingredient in the middle of fixing dinner, your insurance agent after your car accident, or your doctor who provided care. Most of us give little or not thought to farmers or even to where food comes from or to utility employees until we flip a switch and get no light or don't receive the stream of clean water that routinely comes from turning a faucet.

The lives of millions of people can depend on the skills of a few people who are greatly needed.

There is nothing wrong with learning to tell people that you are dependent upon them. Jay and I needed customers in our business. So we flat-out told them that we needed their business, that they were important to us.

When you look around there is no limit to all the people you need, but few of those people ever actually hear from you that you need them. We take them for granted and really don't think about them a lot. No one in a lofty position can say to someone in a lower position, "I don't need you." How successful would a company be that consisted of jus presidents?

"I need you". That's such a powerful phrase for positive people because it acknowledges that each person is created by God, and God created each of us for a purpose and to fulfil a need.

When we know that we are needed, we fell better about ourselves, perform better, and even want to do more to show how much we truly are needed.

I believe that each one of us on earth is a creature of God that we are here for a purpose and worthy of respect as a human being.

Anyone who becomes an effective leader and wins the respect and admiration of many followers knows that he or she needs them. The higher some leaders climb, the more they lose sight of the people they think they left behind an no longer need. That's a fatal mistake. Organizations in which people feel they are not needed are doomed to failure or at least a bumpy ride of uncertainty and dissatisfaction. None of us is too important or self-sufficient not to need other people. Why not create a more positive atmosphere in our homes, workplaces, and communities by telling people, "I need you."

The success of our society depends on trusting that someone will do a good job, trusting each other to be honest, trusting that people will keep their promises. We need trust among co-workers and within our families. We trust our children, and they trust us. Many of us are given great responsibilities that are all based on trust.

Trust is a key quality of leadership. To be a worthy leader, you have to be trustworthy.

When you have the quality of trustworthiness, people want to be like you, to be your friend, to follow you, to be in business with your or partner with you. When you consider the kind of people you want to associate with in any type of relationship, one quality you surely look for is trustworthiness.

Trust is developed through experience.

Trust is essential in a friendship, but we also need trust in community.

Businesses, societies, and even our world community require trust to function.

Trust means we deliver as promised.

We learned that we needed people we could trust to make a product with consistent quality and reliable delivery. And we knew that products do not sell themselves and that our business succeeded by building relationships with people and earning their trust.

People buy from people they can trust.

Trust is based on the Golden Rule: trusting that people will treat us, as they would like to be treated not only is assuring but encourages us to be trustworthy.

To have the most positive influence when telling someone we trust them, we must protect our own reputation for being trustworthy. Trust can be quickly destroyed when we fail to deliver as promised or go back on our word. Misplaced trust is difficult to recover.

An honest answer is important so people can rely on what we say. We need to level with them at all times, whatever our answer. We need to think through our answers about what we can or can't, will or won't do. If you speak to people honestly, you will always have their trust.

One gains trust by being trustworthy, but you likely know people who've proven to be untrustworthy. Perhaps some people with whom you've done business have cheated a bit, haven't provided all the details on an order, or have begun to do sloppy work as soon as they were comfortable they had you as a stead customer. People like these betray your trust.

Life is teamwork.

We need to trust people to do their jobs and not act in ways that are harmful to the rest of us.

Trust means being unselfish - doing what's best for everyone, even when there may be opportunity to better oneself. We need the discipline to perform all that is required of a team.

Telling someone "I trust you" sends a special message.

Each person has value and is gifted in some way.

You earn respect by showing respect.

Saying the words "I respect you" is vey powerful, but respect really must be earned and demonstrated. Respect is reciprocal. If you want to be respected, you must respect others. People know when you value and respect them and when you don'ts. It's difficult to hide disrespected, and people can sense your attitude almost instinctively.

Earning and showing respect begins with listening to people.

Everyone has some achievement in his or her life. If you ask someone a few questions and learn a little about that person, you'll discover reasons to say, "I respect you."

Respect becomes part of your nature when you show an interest in people and listen.

Discovering reasons to respect people is actually easy, because everybody is happy to talk about themselves. You never have a lull in a conversation if you just ask people about their lives.

Encouraging people to talk about themselves is powerful. Just to be asked what we do or our opinion is a great compliment.

Showing interest in everyone we meet is one of the highest forms of respect.

We need to be interested in people and listen to them, but showing and earning respect also can be as simple as remembering names and faces. When people acknowledge us by name - especially when it's someone important who remembers our name - we feel respected.

Learning to call people by their name shows our respect for them.

Showing respect beings with simply forgetting about ourselves for a moment and being aware of the other person. I've practiced this type of respect for many years with our employee meetings. We respected the opinions and abilities of our employees because first we respected them as people. We felt they should have an opportunity to speak up around the table with us and offer their perspectives and suggestions. They got to know me, and I got to know them by asking questions and listening. They got to see that I wasn't such a bad guy and wanted to treat them fairly. That's how respect is built. A suggestion box is a wonderful sign of respect. If we ignore people because our heads are too high in the clouds we're making a big mistake. If we really want to be important, we'll pay attention to others and show respect to everyone. That's how to really become important.

True respect knows no social or economic barriers. It must extend to anyone in any walk of life.

When we consider that each person is created in the image of God with a purpose in life, we dignify all people by treating them as we ourselves wish to be treated. God has a job for everybody. Everybody has a role in life. We need to respect everyone rather than compare our talents and occupations with theirs. When we get into the arguments that "we're better than you are" or "I'm stronger than you are," we are showing disrespect. When we categorize or stereotype people, we rob them of their dignity and personality. We demean and dismiss them according to our own prejudices. Living life in comparison with others if futile. We'll always have people ahead of us and behind us. Playing the comparison game might be part of our competitive spirit, but it's a bad and disrespectful game.

True respect should be shown regardless of differences in politics, religion or background. We can come from different backgrounds or disagree on viewpoints but still respect on another.

We can disagree on policies without condemning people personally. When we learn the art of listening and being interested sincerely in other people and their points of view, we can then use the powerful phrase "I respect you". To tell a person you respect him or her is high praise. Those are sweet words.

We also need to show respect for the personal decisions and feelings of others, even when their decisions may be contrary to what we believe is in our best interest.

A business, relationship, or any organization without respect for its members is doomed to failure. An organization that changes from one in which members work together with respect to one of self-interest and internal squabbles is on a downward spiral.

Along with earning and showing respect we also need to remain positive in the face of disrespect.

A powerful way to overcome disrespect is simply to show respect

In sales, as in life, you often need to overcome much rejection before you succeed in earning respect. But if you believe in yourself and others you can overcome rejection and earn respect by showing respect.

We all want and need to be respected. If you want respect, I recommend you show respect by taking an interest in other people. Ask a few questions. Listen to people who are eager to share with you the proud moments of their lives. You'll quickly discover something about them for which you can say, " I respect you" In so doing, you also will earn their respect, and as a respected person, you will gain self-respect.

"I Love You" is a powerful phrase that encompasses all the others. The way we feel about people - whether it's romantic love, family relationships, or even close friendships - is a form of love. We have to love one another; that's the biblical admonish as expressed by Jesus Christ. Love is a warmer way to express ourselves than saying, "I respect you" or "I believe in you." It's a more tender way of expressing our feelings for people we admire and appreciate. Love is a term of great trust and belief - the strongest term you can use to speak to another person if you feel that way about them. Saying "I love you" is quiet a step for most people.

We need to look for and nurture love - for our God who blesses us richly, for marriages, for families, for friends, and for our communities. Let's not just think about saying "I love you" and regret later that we didn't say it. Let's take every opportunity to tell our loved ones - from our hearts - "I love you". Or maybe just ay "Love ya" to someone you admire or appreciate. If you can't say the words, at least give someone a hug. And make it a big one!

Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and the second is to love our neighbours as ourselves. Let's all use our hearts. Say, "I love you". With this and all the other powerful phrases, we can all make our homes, communities, and world more positive places to live.