A note on the words I use
23 October 2006I’m quite specific with what words I use and the meanings I place on them. Often, my articles will be dedicated to the difference between two similar words and the implications of using them.
Why is this? Well, for one, I’m pedantic! I like having things in order and being clear on what we’re talking about. To paraphrase Joseph Chilton Pearce, without agreement we can have no reality. So it helps to know what exactly I mean when I say something, and we’re on the same page.
Two, I think a lot of ambiguity and frustration comes as a result of having fuzzy goals and ill defined terms. What sucess means to me mightn’t mean the same to you. And of course, we’ve all heard the term “be confident” before, but what does confidence mean? To me, it’s broken down into a number of different areas. If we know which area of confidence you’re lacking in, or what specifically you’re not confident about, we can work on that. But just saying “be confident”, although well meaning, is pretty much useless in and of itself.
Colm
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