Getting High on Recovery

Have you heard the statistic that women speak 20,000 words each day, and men speak about 10,000 words? Whether you have heard someone say this or not, it’s bunk. A myth.

Statements like this only serve to perpetuate myths about gender differences.

Research by Dr. Matthias Mehl, an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology with Arizona’s Undergraduate Biology Research Program, looked into the words spoken by men and women. He found that no matter your gender, you will speak about the same number of words.

Regardless of your gender, you will speak about 16,000 words today.

If that is not impressive enough, can you guess how many thoughts you will have today?

50-70,000. That’s right.

Fifty. Thousand. Thoughts.

Maybe you are telling yourself, “If thoughts were worth money, I’d be rich!” Turns out that thoughts are worth MORE than money… Your thoughts are your life! Just ask any entrepreneur, inventor, author, teacher, philosopher, parent or psychologist.

Consider this quote from an article I wrote last week:

Words are shortcuts, they are like psychological shorthand, brief summaries that attempt to communicate a much larger experience. When we settle for word-shortcuts, they can trap us and limit how we experience our lives and our ability to live fully even when things are very challenging.

The words that you use to describe your life and even more how you think about yourself and your life may be ruining your happiness. If you want to read more, check out some of my other writing:

The Words You Use to Describe Your Life May Be Making You Unhappy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Trying to Get Your Life Together will Just Make You More Stuck

Going Slow is the Best Way to Have a Quick Recovery

I hope to inspire you, to inform you and on occasion to entertain you. But most of all, I want to connect with you. Sign up for my blog if you want to receive the latest and best of my writing. If you like what I have to say, please share my work with your friends.

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Keep it Real

Photos by Bytes Conference