Winning Catchphrases I
“Attitude determines altitude.” Another slogan posted on the wall of an elementary school is “think positively.” In a previous article I mentioned that positive thinking can be trained and gave various examples of ways to do so. A viral video online titled “Secret” promotes extreme examples of this – write your wishes down and think about them as often as possible and one day they will come true. It is like the power of attraction.
Words and thoughts areenergyand waves. Psychologist MeijuanCai says, "your mindwill attractthe samethings andthe nature ofthe message. Everything hasmultipleangles, so when you focus onsuccess, failure and frustrationare easy toget rid of.”
Many enterpriser or successful CEOs were interviewed and asked what their main catchphrases were and if it helped. Their answers were all positive. So the first step is to create your own positive catchphrase and to say it often so that it becomes your mind set. Then, every time after an intensive work day, if you remain at the “I am so tired” stage, it will spread pessimism and act as discouragement. Instead, facing the situation with positivity and optimism and saying “It will be better next time”, “Tomorrow is a new day” or “I am so blessed” to balance your negative thinking is a better way to go.
In this article I will share many winning catchphrases from successful people as good examples to transform our attitudes.
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“Do you see any empty seats?” was said while pointing at the chairs and is the catchphrase by Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon. Usually when introducing a new project, most people will say “Can we reassess again?” Instead, Jeff uses this catchphrase to remind product managers that that these empty seats represent customers. It reminds his employees to take good care of the needs of customers and to do more than they expect. This catchphrase helped Amazon go through the internet bubble in 2000, the financial crisis in 2008 and helped reach many benchmarks for customers.
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“Screw it! Let’s do it!” is the catchphrase of Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Group, which comprises of more than 400 companies. After serious, feasible assessments in a new venture project, he chooses open-mindedness to catch opportunities despite criticisms. This attitude of his has allowed him to open businesses ranging from fitness clubs to space traveling.
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In general when people question your decision, most will defend themselves rigidly by asking where their mistakes are. Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, confronts the challenger and says in a provoked tone, “Prove to me why I made a mistake!” to show his passion, morale and to set the rules for the game.
According to the research of Dr. Sian Beilock, a psychological professor in Chicago University, it was observed that students with positive catchphrase got higher grades than those with negative catchphrases because negative catchphrase like “I am nervous,” or “I cannot do it!” occupy the working memory in the brain and produce negative hormones that bring us down.
As an educator, every time students have a request that is not academically related, we try not to say ‘no’ immediately, but may wait until we evaluate to see whether it is something that is within our abilities then answer them either by email or Facebook at a later date. Furthermore, we try to create an atmosphere where all questions are welcome by offering instant solutions on Facebook to any school questions in Math and English that students may have. Nowadays, in order to motivate students to have a good learning attitude, you must be able to resolve their questions as quickly as possible and guide them towards the right direction in terms of their thinking process. “No excuse” is the catchphrase that we use often when students forget to do their homework or when they make careless mistakes on tests. It trains students to build up their character with regards to responsibility and being more careful by double checking their work regularly.
In the year 2011, a rather mysterious billionaire named Saitō Hito paid more than 120 million US in taxesaccumulated over the course of 12 years. He wrote a book discussing why there are hundreds of reasons for poverty and just a key to wealth, which is a top seller in Amazon Japan. He shared his catchphrases and keys to generate wealth. ”Justconsider yourself happy. You'll be able to, at thismoment,be ahappy person.”
Catchphrases are self-fulfilled prophecies. A bad catchphrase is full of negativity and may lead to failure but a good one can take you very far in terms of happiness and success. In the next article, I will share some case studies with regards to catchphrases.