Reed Maltbie shares language choices that signal confidence: "will" instead of "I'll try," "yet" to frame inability as temporary, "when" to assume inevitability, and "what if" to spark innovation. Small word shifts reshape how you think about what's possible.
Chapters
What are some examples of language that displays certainty instead of uncertainty?
Will. Will's a great word. Instead of somebody saying, I'll try, you know, we'll do this, you'll do this. Other power words that display certainty, there's yet. When children use can't, you just say yet, and you're giving them some kind of certainty like, hey, look, it may not be today, but you will accomplish this. It also keeps them in that growth mindset that this isn't an endgame. It's always a process. There's always opportunities for growth. There's always going to be challenges. One that, you You wouldn't think was a power word. Well, when, when's another power word? When you accomplish this, what would that feel like? One that became a power phrase for me that I put in a book was what if. My wife used it with me in a very powerful moment in our lives. And I realized that how many great things in our world have come about because somebody asked that quiet question, what if we could do that? What if you could carry a phone in your pocket? What if your computer could be detached from your desk and put in a briefcase and walked around? What if we could get on a contraption that put us in the air and got us somewhere in 5