[00:01.2]
Hello and welcome to the Own Your Health podcast, I'm Cyndi Lynne, and I can't wait to help you step into your health power. Today I'm going to talk about words and the words that have a lot of power in our lives, especially when it comes to our health.
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And I want to make this a quick one. I want to actually do a series of these with words that we commonly use and maybe aren't aware of. So let's get right into it. Today's words, the words that have so much power in our life, probably the most powerful are can't and won't.
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Can't is the one I hear used the most often with clients. I can't do this. I can't do that. I can't go here. I can't, can't, can't. And I inevitably call them out on that because if it's something that I know they physically are able to do, then it's not a can't, it's a won't.
[01:04.4]
Now, what's the difference in this, really? If you feel like you can't do something and you shift the words to I won't do that, try it. Stop. Now, pick something that you think you can't do and see if won't is actually a better word.
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Now, when it comes to something you physically can't do, like, I cannot jump out of this window and fly because that's not physically something that I'm built to do or don't have the equipment to do that, can't is the appropriate word.
[01:39.3]
I can't fly. But many, many of the things that we think are can'ts in life are actually won'ts. So let's look at the words a little bit more. Can't means unable. Won't means I choose not to.
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So how does that feel when you say, well, I choose not to do that? It puts the onus, puts the responsibility back on you. Sometimes that feels good, and sometimes it's just easier to say can't, because then we don't have to take that responsibility for these little micro decisions that we make all day long.
[02:24.7]
Can't is the end of the story. I can't do that. Done. Discussion over. Won't invites some analysis. And that's where the magic happens. When I'm working with clients and they're tackling tough issues and they're tackling things in their lives that they think or that they've told themselves or someone has told them, them they can't do.
[02:49.7]
So let's take a real basic example, one that I've talked about here before, when people say to me, I can't do yoga because I'm just not flexible enough. And I know that that's not true because there is a yoga for every type of body, whether it's in a chair, whether you're doing it from a wheelchair, right?
[03:12.9]
So I know that the can't is not a fact. The can't is a story that the person's been telling themselves. If they say, I won't go to yoga class because I don't know if I can keep up, I don't understand the terminology, I don't want to embarrass myself, I don't know how, that invites exploration, it invites education, it invites an opportunity to learn to do things so that you actually can and will do something that you want to do.
[03:51.9]
Now, the other side of that coin is rather than saying, I can't do yoga, saying I won't do yoga because I really don't have any interest in it. All right. That's perfectly honest. It's legitimate. It can end there, no one has to force you to.
[04:08.5]
But notice the difference in power that those words have. One is you making a decision, and the other is you being almost a victim of circumstances or a victim of anatomy and physiology or whatever outside force.
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It implies that you don't have control, that you can't change that. Won't is always a choice. I won't do that. And when we apply this to all areas of our life, you will see a real difference.
[04:47.7]
Every time you, you hear I can't come out of your mouth, is it really an I can't. So I can't operate heavy equipment. I simply don't know how, as opposed to, I won't drive to this particular event because I don't want to, because there's a lot of traffic, because there's no gas in my car. When it's a won't, there's an opportunity for troubleshooting, an opportunity for deeper understanding, and an opportunity for change and growth.
[05:28.7]
And can't, like I said, is just sort of the end of the line. So when it comes to I can't ever follow a diet, I can't ever keep up an exercise program, I can't seem to find clothes that fit me.
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All of these kind of phrases, and these are the ones that I hear most often with my clients. But there's a lot of other areas of life. I can't save money, I can't cook. All of these things are not true. They simply aren't.
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Because anyone can learn to do any of these things and they can choose to do them at the right level. Anyone can exercise. It doesn't take a lot of money.
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It doesn't have to take any money. There are people paralyzed in wheelchairs who are exercising their heads and necks because that's what they can move, or their hands because they have some movement over their, their fingers. The can't is a convenient excuse.
[06:38.5]
And I call my clients out and they pay me to do that. And if you're here listening, it might be because you sense the need to have a little bit more accountability besides just getting information.
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You probably want to figure out how to implement the. The things that you're learning and the goals, the tasks and actions that it's going to take to meet the goals that you've created. So if you're looking for someone for accountability, I'm absolutely here from you.
[07:10.2]
Grab some time on my calendar before. And even if you don't, catch yourself when you say can't, is it a can't or is it a won't? Can'ts are absolutely valid when they're true. Won'ts absolutely valid.
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But the won't gives you an opportunity to look a little bit deeper, to learn a little bit more, and maybe be a little bit more brave to move forward with something that's going to get you closer to your goals and closer to owning your health.
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So until next week, let's go out and own it.
