In this talk, Patrick Mosher explores the concept of "triggers" in language and behavior, framing them as signals that either align with or oppose our higher purpose. He distinguishes two kinds of triggers: positive triggers that prompt immediate, purpose‑driven action, and negative triggers that compel us to react out of irritation or a sense of injustice. Mosher identifies two linguistic patterns that act as negative triggers for him: (1) double‑negative phrases such as "no problem," "no worries," "can't complain," "not bad," and "wouldn't hurt," which he argues mask a lack of commitment and stem from fear or scarcity; and (2) victim‑language constructions like "you made me angry," which hand power to the other person. He illustrates each pattern with everyday examples, explains why they undermine an affirming culture, and calls for a shift toward affirmative language—simple "yes" and personal ownership of emotions. The talk ends with a prompt for listeners to identify their own triggers and consider how to transform them into tools for an empowering, abundance‑based mindset.
Chapters
So the second one is triggers. And, um, think about, uh, if, if you, if you see, we started this with what's egregiously wrong in the world. So then if there's something egregiously wrong, and I like the words you guys used up front about soul and winning hearts and minds and, and that higher purpose, that also means when you see something in the world that triggers you, and I mean that in a good and bad way, there's things out there that you go like, that's happening, that's happening there. And you want to go in and do that, right? You know, so there, that's a trigger, right? It's like, oh, there, this is so aligned with my purpose. And you jump right in, right? So there's that part. And then there's the other end of the continuum of triggers that goes like, oh, I gotta say something. I mean, I just, I just have to say something because this is, this will drive me bananas. I can't go to bed tonight if I don't say something right now. So that's also the, the negative side of triggers. Making sense? Okay. So, so when I think about triggers, I wrote down 2 types of triggers here for me. And knowing that the, the mindset of, you know, scarcity and, and, you know, the victim, but abundance and empowerment. So one of the things with Wisdom for Humanity that drives me bananas are double negatives. And I think you both have, you know, heard me talk about these before. Like, double negatives drive me bananas because when I say, hey Bob, will you do this? And they go like, oh, no problem. I'm like, you didn't say yes. You just said no problem. So, so, and I did, I did a, a whole thing with a, uh, with a Venn diagram. I said, prop— if I did it, you know, imagine I have— I could do it right here on this wall. But imagine problem is in a circle. No problem is everything outside of that circle. Is this making sense from a logic perspective? Mm-hmm. No problem are elephants, alligators, blue skies, grass. All those things are no problem. And yes, yes is out there someplace in that whole universe of what's no problem. But when somebody says no problem, a double negative isn't a positive. Wouldn't it just be easier if you say, hey, could you get fries with my order? And they go like, no problem. Wouldn't it just be better to just say yes? But we're in this weird world of, of these double negatives, and I think it's a bit of fear of commitment, something like that. So I have a list of, of, of my double negatives that I noticed, and, and you can write these down. Um, once you write these down, you've joined my movement. Once you write these down, you will hear them everywhere and you, they will drive you bananas. Okay? So these will be triggers for you. Ready? Do you, you know, close your ears if you don't wanna hear this because the, the, so first of all, no problem. Um, my wife does, uh, when we go to a restaurant and, and the person says no problem, she rolls her eyes cuz she's, she knows, like, oh, and I'll say, No problem. Oh, was it a problem? Is it— was it a problem before? Were my fries gonna be a problem for the chef or for you? I just— and she goes like, stop it, just stop. You know, he's like— and the person, the server's looking at me going like, what is his problem? And I was like, oh, so you're just gonna get him? No problem. Yeah, no problem. It's like, oh no. So that's one of them. Um, the other one that's, that's— it's, it's close cousin is, uh, no worry or no worries. No worries. And then you'll hear me say, oh, was that a worry? Paul was getting— was getting the fries a worry for you? I didn't want to create a worry for you. And you're like, I'm just going to get you the fries. Like, could you just say yes or I'm going to get you the fries instead of no worries? So no worries, the second one. Um, oh, this one's good. Nate, how you doing? Can't complain. Were you going to complain? I mean, is it so bad that you were going to complain? It was on the tip of your tongue to complain, but But now you're not going to complain because you can't complain? Or are you— you know, can't complain actually means I'm unable to complain. Does that mean you want to but you just can't? It's just like, stop, Patrick, just stop, right? Okay, am I driving you guys bananas with this? Of course I am. So, uh, can't complain. Um, oh, is, is the hamburger good? Oh, it's not bad, not bad, not bad. What degree of, of Bad is not bad. It's on the other side of bad. So is it neutral? Does it taste like cardboard, or, or is it like slightly good? You know, so, so not bad. That's another one. And then, uh, hey, can we do this? Oh, wouldn't hurt. Oh, was it gonna hurt? I didn't realize that we were putting hurt into this conversation. Okay, does this make sense to you guys? All right, so, so these are all double negatives. And when I started doing my Wisdom for Humanity, I started looking at this going like, and I open up my ears to these things. And the reason why I want to correct it is because I want an affirming culture, not a double negative culture, a commitment to yes. And so that's one of my triggers. The other trigger that I'm working with is, and this one, I haven't solved this one for me yet. I'm still working on this one. Um, uh, but when you go like, Bob, you made me so angry— no, Bob didn't make me anything. That's victim. That's victim language. I just gave all the power to this person who made me angry. Do you want to give power to the people that make you angry? So I decided to get angry based on what you— how you treated me. But I decided that I decide whether I want to emote on that or not. Oh, but the other side of that's true too, you know. Wife, you make me so happy. No, that's not true either. They do lovely things and then you decide to be happy with that, right? So I'm really trying to take you make me anything out of the context. All right. So those are a couple of my triggers. Take 20 seconds, 30 seconds. What are some of the triggers for yours, for your movement?
