#1268 Stop Saying Stupid Stuff

I can’t resist chatting about ONE more awesome idea from Trevor Moawad’s great book It Takes What It Takes.

So you know…

There are 12 chapters in the book. Each features an “It Takes…”

Here’s what it takes:

1. It Takes Neutral Thinking (Positive? Negative? Nah. NEUTRAL is where it’s at.)
2. It Takes a Plan (What’s yours?)
3. It Takes Hard Choices (Ultimately, if you’re committed to greatness, there IS no choice. See: “The Illusion of Choice.“)
4. It Takes a Verbal Governor (In short: Quit saying stupid things out loud.)
5. It Takes a Negativity Diet (Your environment STRONGLY influences your well-being. Eliminate as much negative stuff as you can—goodbye incessant news, country songs, etc. 😉)
6. It Takes an Ad Campaign in Your Brain (You’re always talking to yourself so you might as well feed your brain a stream of positive branding ads, eh?)
7. It Takes Visualizing (What’s YOUR best future look like?)
8. It Takes Self-Awareness (What do you do that works? DO MORE OF THAT. What needs work? Work on it!)
9. It Takes Pressure (Pressure, ultimately, Trevor tells us via Billie Jean King, is a privilege. Why? Because feeling pressure means that what we’re doing matters.)
10. It Takes Leadership (And that starts with leading yourself first.)
11. It Takes Role Models (Who are your heroes? Trevor’s dad was his. You?)
12. It Takes What It Takes (You ready to do what needs to get done?)

Today we’re going to talk about his point that “It Takes a Verbal Governor.”

The essence of this idea? We need to get control of the language we use. In short, Trevor tells us to STOP SAYING STUPID THINGS OUT LOUD.

I repeat: Stop saying stuff out loud that you don’t want to see happen.

It’s not helpful.

So just stop doing it. (lol) (Seriously.)

To bring the point home (and this story has been rattling around in my brain which is why I needed to share it with you), Trevor tells us about one of the most infamous plays in baseball history.

If you’re a baseball fan and old enough, you might remember it. I was only 12 but totally remember it.

It’s 1986. The Boston Red Sox are playing the New York Mets in the World Series and they have a chance to win for the first time in forever.

Game 6. 10th inning. We’re all tied up.

And…

Mookie Wilson of the Mets hits a routine ground ball to the Red Sox first baseman, Bill Buckner.

And…

I wince as I type this…

That ground ball goes straight through his legs—allowing the runner on third to score to win the game and force a Game 7 that the Red Sox lost.

Insert: Sad face. 😕

Now…

Errors happen.

And, we know that you’ve gotta be willing to strike out in the same batter’s box in which you hit the game-winning home run, etc., etc., etc.

And…

You know what Buckner said in an interview just a couple weeks before that error?

As Trevor says as he brilliantly tells the story: “The creepiest part is what Buckner said nineteen days before that game. During an interview with Don Shane of WBZ-TV, Buckner said, ‘The dreams are that you’re gonna have a great series and win. The nightmares are that you’re gonna let the winning run score on a ground ball through your legs.”

Eek.

Trevor continues: “Buckner said it, and it happened. Would Buckner have fielded the ball cleanly had he never said that? We don’t know. But the fact that usually sure-gloved Buckner said it out loud means the thought of letting a ball go through his legs was on his mind. Did that thought cross his mind as Mookie Wilson’s grounder approached?”

Double Eek.

One more gem from Trevor: “Think more about the things you can stop doing right now—today. Think about putting a muzzle on negative expression for the next twenty-four hours. Negative thoughts can cross your mind. They will. But for one full day forbid yourself from verbalizing them. Witness the difference that makes in your relationships, your mental state, your outcomes. You’ll be amazed.”

That’s Today’s +1.

Let’s Optimize the Verbal Governor in our brains.

And quit staying stupid stuff out loud. 😲

Join me on the 24-hour challenge?

Let’s do this.

And not do that!

T O D A Y.