By Lisa Platt

My Grandmother would screech these words after she dropped or lost something.  “Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!”

I hadn’t thought much about this until two years ago.  My mother, an in-home hospice patient, was living with me.  She dropped or spilled something.

“Stupid, Stupid, STUPID!”

I ran from the kitchen to the living room.

OMG!!!  My mother is channeling her mother.  She repeats the words in the same exact tone!

I can’t tell you what my mother dropped or spilled.

Those words, “Stupid, Stupid, STUPID” jumped out! I remember them to this day.

I can assure you.  Words matter.  Programming matters.

How many times have I reprimanded myself without realizing it?   How many times have I told myself, “Stupid, Stupid, STUPID” when I made a mistake?

Probably LOTS!!!

I recently caught myself saying just that, “Stupid, Stupid, STUPID!!!”

This time, it was different.

After I fixed the problem, I still heard those words, “Stupid, Stupid, STUPID!!!”.  I stopped myself mid-way.  I stopped myself from beating myself up.  I realized what I was doing and did not want to go down that path, a downward spiral.

Yet, the word “STUPID” was loud and clear.

We tell ourselves stories.  What if we change the story?

That’s what I did. I created an acronym for the letters “S. T. U. P. I. D.”

S – Smart
T – Talented
U – Upbeat
P – Persistent
I – Inspired
D – Decisive

I focused on being “Smart, Talented, Upbeat, Persistent, Inspired and Decisive.”  I smiled and felt happier inside.

I can assure you, words matter.  Programming matters.  Programming influences how we react to things. Sometimes it affects us more than we know and more than we are willing or able to acknowledge.

I’ve learned how to become aware of things that trigger me, things I react to that can move me toward a downward spiral. These are skills I can share with you.

Being aware and trusting myself are the first steps to preventing me from going full force into a downward spiral. Being that person, the one walking around with a black cloud circulating around their body, “nobody likes me, everybody hates me, I’m going to eat some worms.”

Over time, I’ve become more confident. I’ve learned to trust myself, to do things in a way that works for me. I’m okay if my way isn’t exactly the same as everyone else.

One of the things I love about teaching networking is there are guidelines, not hard fast rules.

Within these guidelines, one has flexibility and can learn to Connect with Confidence (link to http://www.businessnetworkingmadesimple.com/event/connectingwc/), network their way, in a way that works for them.

Just the other day, I heard those words, “Stupid, Stupid, STUPID!!!” pop into my head. I paused, giggled, and thought of my Grandmother. I asked myself, what do the letters “S. T. U. P. I. D.” stand for?

What “Smart, Talented, Upbeat, Persistent, Inspired and Decisive” action will you take today?

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