Fat Words vs. Lean Words

Now and then we get things we don't want, or loose interest in after a short time. Studies by social and cognitive psychologists show that human beings are innately handicapped at predicting their long-term happiness. Whether we're buying a house, car, or choosing a city and neighborhood to live in, we often find ourselves feeling let down or neutral soon after the goal is achieved. What we imagine will make us happy is often overly romanticized.

When our forecasts are not sharply visualized or thoroughly tested, the unexpected "reality" comes to us as a surprise. Like falling in love on a blind date, we gloss over the possible negatives and only focus on the positives.

Let's take Erica's example mentioned earlier. As a teenager, she dreamt of being a scientist, making discoveries to benefit mankind. She imagined herself inventing cures for diseases and making breakthroughs in medicine. Then one day, reality hit. What it takes to make discoveries is meticulous experimenting, documenting every step, and living in a laboratory with no windows. Her vague fantasy of "making discoveries" did not include the daily rigors of lab work. Her vision of the future left out the fine details. The words she used to describe her career were too "fat."

Having a passionate career, one you'll want to keep, takes "lean" words. For example, if I say I have an animal for a house pet, your mind can conjure up a few ideas, but still not be sure what I mean. Hmm, does he have a lizard, a gold fish, a snake, or a cat? However, if I say I have a dog, things get somewhat clearer. In even leaner terms, I actually have a friendly, highly energetic Chesapeake Bay Retriever that loves to swim and fetch tennis balls in icy cold water. Now, there is no more guesswork. Leaning up fat or abstract words is a powerful career design tool.

Before making life's biggest choices, use detailed words, then convert those words into a full sensory picture. The picture should be described in terms of see, hear, taste, touch, and smell information. Imagine all the daily details of your choice in your mind's eye. When you use five-sensory words to describe what you want, you're more likely to get exactly that.

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