Ask Nana Anything
Are your Choice of Words Important?
Words, YES, your choice is important. Have you given any thought to this? Are you kidding me? You have no idea how critically important it is that you choose the right word. It will set you up for success or failure. Words put you into a state of gratitude or a state of lack and limitation. You want to choose your words as carefully as your thoughts. Thoughts travel faster than the sound of your voice. Consider this scenario. You are sitting having a cup of coffee. Suddenly, you think about a friend that you haven’t seen in months or even years. You decide to call that person. Just as you initiate that call, your cell phone rings and it is that friend! Has that ever happened to you?
Need to or Choose to
The word need is very heavy. Say it with me. I need to go shopping. I need to go work out. Do you feel it? Now change the word need to choose and complete the sentence. I choose to go shopping. I choose to go work out. Do you feel the difference? Isn’t it lighter?
Need to or Get to

The word need is very heavy. Say it with me. I need to go shopping. I need to go work out. Do you feel it? Now change the word need to get and complete the sentence. I get to go shopping. I get to go work out. Do you feel the difference? Isn’t it lighter?
Several years ago, I was volunteering at Craig Hospital and I met a girl named Linda. She and her fiancé were building a home in the mountains. One day, late in the afternoon, she went to the construction site to do something. There was some paper on the floor and it was covering what was going to be a stairway. Because of the lighting, she didn’t see it. She stepped on the paper and fell to the basement. She was paralyzed from the waist down and was confined to a wheelchair. We became good friends. One day, we had been on the phone for quite a while and I said, “Hey, I need to go now, I need to go work out.” She said, “Jan, you get to work out.”
I’m guessing that comment will stick with you as it has with me. The word ‘need’ is permanently replaced in my vocabulary. If I say it, by mistake, it is the equivalent on chalk on the blackboard for me. I immediately replace it with either the word get or choose.
Common Sense
What is common sense to Nana is not necessarily common sense to others. In this case, it makes sense to me that the only way I can get rid of an old bad habit is to replace it with a new good habit. If you want some personal one on one coaching on your word choices, please set up a time to work with Success Coach Jan.
I am certainly not making any medical claims; it seems like common sense that if your tummy bloats after eating something you might think about cutting it out of your diet. Unless, of course, you like being in pain or you are looking for an excuse not to do something. In that case, go right ahead!!
Rules, Regulations, and Respect
My mom was all about rules, regulations, and respect. When I was a kid we had Erma Bombeck and Ann Landers, each of whom had a column in the daily newspaper. All kinds of questions were asked. There are no bad questions. Only those questions that have not been asked. Please keep this in mind as you submit your questions to Nana. You can ASK anything!
You can submit your questions to me at Nana@empoweringzone.com