THE 1000 WORDS TECHNIQUE: A METHOD TO USE TO LIVE MORE EFFECTIVELY

“Words we speak are energies. The more we use positive words, the more we generate and expend positive energies to our surroundings, improving our relationships. Most importantly, the more we, ourselves, are being filled up with positive energies”… Shimonkepha

In the movie, “A 1000 Words”, Jack McCall had only 1000 words to speak before he dies. Day after day, Jack was forced to pick and choose his words, he minimized the number of words he spoke to only the needful. What if you too have only one thousand words to speak after which you will never speak again? This is the 1000 words method!

Upon watching this movie, it heightened my sense upon the words I speak every day and also the people that surround me. Day after day, we all do speak words that irrelevant or have no fruit to bear. Also, I noticed that people constantly repeat their own and other people’s words even when not necessary. The most important aspect is that there is always negativity in more than 80% of the words many people use every day. The 15% are usually neutral while 5% are positive words. The positive words which includes words of appreciation (thank you, please, etc.), expressions of praises (you are looking great, etc.) are rarely used. They are found only when someone does something special to us. Neutral words are the words we use normally, words used in our daily activities such as greetings, work/office, which are neither positive nor negative. Negativity usually comes from criticisms and complains and it takes up a high percentage of our everyday words.

Also, I discovered the ease from which people change from positive to negative. Example Ethan (not real name) was praising a colleague for aiding him carry out a task he was supposed to do while he (Ethan) was going through the work. At a point, he noticed an error and suddenly switched to criticizing the task. Using the 1000 words method, we can easily watch the nature of words we speak daily. Because of the rise in the number of negative words used per day, people tend to always see more of negative aspects of anything than the positive. This is unknowingly causing damages to a lot of relationships. As parents, do we use more of negative words on our children? As leaders or managers, do we use more of threats to get our subordinates carry out tasks? What do we actually say daily to people in close relationship with us?

Most people, at the end of a day, feel totally drained even when they have not done much for the day. In the actual sense, they spoke a lot that day, chatted with a lot of people, etc. Even as spoken words are energies being expended, it is needful to say that people are already losing the art of being silent. Well, even when the mouth is closed, the mind still speaks without resting. Thoughts are unspoken words. I bet that even when sleeping, they are still actively speaking. Learning the art of meditation can help us make our mind stay silent. We can save those energies and channel them to more useful and necessary areas. I redefine the normal saying “speech is silver, silence is golden” to “speech is bronze, silence is silver, knowing when to speak and to be silent is golden”.

Thus, using the 1000 words technique, we can be more positive which will in turn make us to see more of positive sides than the negative sides. Being more positive means that we will be expending more positive energies than negative energies. This will improve our relationships tremendously. We can also be more silent and focused. It will also make us better listeners. When we use the 1000 words method, we can have more control over what we say daily with greater self-awareness!

I have created a worksheet for the 1000 Words Technique. Click here to get it (The 1000 Words Worksheet). You can add more to the worksheet