To begin with, get rid of excuse words from your vocabulary, they are.… “But, Only, Just and If”

These four words dilute your response, dilute what you do in the eyes of the other person, and dilute your own view of yourself as a professional. Those words do not build, they diminish and tear down, and that is not the attitude you want. If you aren’t sure of yourself, nobody else will be.

For example, if you want to become a writer, delete these four words from your vocabulary – they’re not even good words to use in a story.

#Attitude is half the battle in making a life change and I speak from experience when I say taking writing seriously is a life change, since it is time-consuming and deeply spiritual.

With my first book #Rajputana Chronicles: #GunsandGlories published and a large social media following, my writing career often lands me in #mentoring roles as a #teacher, #speaker, or #advisory.

A common question, wherever I go, is “How do you find the time to write, promote and manage your social media?”

When I tell people I’ve made the choice to make writing a priority in my life, they’re still looking for the answer to, “But how do you do that?” Here is the first lesson I teach them:
Get rid of the following words in your vocabulary: But, Only, Just and If.

Be honest. When asked, do you use one of these words in your reply?
• You aren’t someone “who ‘just‘ writes sometimes.”
• You aren’t a part-time writer, ‘but‘ you “don’t do it as often as you’d like to.”
• You don’t ‘only‘ “write to ponder over.”
• You can’t ‘just‘ write ‘if‘ “you find the time.”

The correct answer to the question ought to be,
• “I am a writer and therefore, I make time to write.” You decide to become a writer.

When you hear yourself speaking confidently, you begin to believe it; when you use positive language, you exude a positive attitude.

Tight writing produces the best stories, so think and speak tightly as well. When someone asks, “Are you a writer”? I reply, “Yes, I am. I write mystery.” Short, precise and assured.

When asked “How do you find the time to write?” I say, “I make time to do what I love doing.” I call this empowerment.

Discounting yourself, mentally and verbally, by using excuse words like but, only, just, and if is like receiving a compliment and responding with, “I really didn’t do anything.”

It’s more mannerly to respond, “Thank you very much.” Otherwise, you discount the compliment.

Practicing this positive outlook takes effort, but is quite doable. Some proactive things you can do include:

1. Keep a journal.Edit your entries seeking the negative, disclaimer, or excuse words.
2. Listen to others.Listen for positive versus negative language and imagine how the positive works simply by changing a few words.
3. Monitor yourself.When speaking, catch yourself – and correct yourself. Others will be intrigued at what you are doing, maybe adopting the practice themselves.

The results can reach wider than you imagine.

1. You empower yourself.You talk yourself into being positive with your efforts.
2. You empower others.Your confidence makes people want to be more like you.
3. You brighten the day.A positive person brightens a negative person’s day. Hearing positive phrasing has been known to reduce depression.

Inserting positive words and extracting the negative is a good idea for anyone, but for writers, whose world is wrought with rejection, critiques, and one-star reviews, removing the negative and exchanging it with positive language mentally strengthens you to write your stories, make those submissions, and spend time marketing. Training your mind to think of forward-moving words, instead of excuse words, can help turn you from a wanna-be into a published author.