"The words you repeat become the future you build!" - Futurist Jim Carroll
Part 2 of my short 6-part series revisiting my archives - a journey that started when writing my newest book sent me back through years of morning posts. The ideas that keep coming back are the ones that matter most.
I did something a little unusual this weekend - I ran the numbers on my own vocabulary.
Years of these morning quotes, all sitting in an archive. So I counted. What does a futurist actually talk about, when you add it all up?
The word "future" appears in my quote lines 614 times. "Tomorrow," 356 times. "Innovation" shows up 175 times, "opportunity" 166, "leadership" 88.
No surprises so far - that's the job description of a Futurist!
But here's the number that stopped me: "opportunity" outruns "fear" by three to one. And "failure" appears 117 times - more than "leadership" - because failure has always been the best teacher on the roster. In that context, take a look at this one:
"Chase your opportunities, instead of running from your fears!" (2023),
Looking at the overall word count, I now think the real story is simpler. Your vocabulary is your strategy. The words you reach for every morning - in your meetings, your plans, your discussions with yourself - are quietly the worlds that define what you are doing to live your future.
Opportunities are better than threats, after all. People and organizations that talk about threats build defensive futures, but people who talk about opportunities build better ones.
It sounds too simple to be true, but the words we use tend to define us.
So take a look at your own vocabulary. What are your 614 words? What do you repeat? What words do you use the most - and which ones hold you back?
Because you're building your future with words - one word at a time, whether you mean to or not.