In the early 1900s, a woman wrote what I believe are some of the most important books ever written on consciousness and the relationship between the inner world and the outer world. Most people know her classic, The Game of Life and How to Play It, but hidden in the shadow of that book is another shorter, simpler, and arguably even more profound book. That book is called Your Word Is Your Wand, and her name is Florence Scovel Shinn. Now, at first glance, it sounds pretty woo, the idea that your words can sculpt your reality. But here's what's fascinating. This isn't some New Age idea. It's one of the oldest teachings in human history. The Bible says that our words literally have the power to create or destroy. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. By your words, you will be justified, and by your words, you will be condemned. These weren't simply moral teachings. They were describing something much deeper, an operating principle of consciousness itself. Today, neuroscience tells us that the words we repeatedly speak reinforce neural pathways. They shape our identity. They change how we perceive and interact with the world. But Florence Scovel Shinn believed they did even more, that every word you speak sends a powerful vibration into the quantum field and crystallizes what you speak into reality itself. So what if manifestation has less to do with visualization and imagination and more to do with learning how to build the habit of only speaking words aligned with the life that you're trying to create? In today's episode, we're going to unpack the hidden principles behind Your Word Is Your Wand, why this nearly century-old book is more relevant than ever, and how changing the way that you speak may just be the most powerful tool that you can start using today to reengineer your tomorrow. So let's get into it.

Welcome to A Changed Mind, a journey into the topics that matter to you most, from the neuroscience and spirituality of mindset and personal growth to groundbreaking strategies for health, wealth, and relationships, to open and honest conversations about pressing global issues such as the environment, censorship, corporate capture, and democracy. Each and every episode reminds us of the certainty of the goodness of the future and provides the teachings, tools, and timeless wisdom inspiring you to create real lasting change in your life and in the world. If you've been desiring a sanctuary for your spirit, a place to go to tune out the distraction, negativity, and doom and gloom so that you can tap into the deep power, the vibrancy, and the potential you have inside, you're in the right place. Welcome to A Changed Mind.

David Bayer:

All right, guys, everything in this book literally revolves around one sentence, and that is, your word is your wand. And Florence doesn't mean this metaphorically. She literally means that the words that you speak are like casting spells. And you know what? It's probably no coincidence that a big part of our education and use of language is a thing called spelling. I mean, come on, we are spellcasters. And the thing is, most of us have a pretty crappy filter on the words that we speak. We are not careful with our tongue. And I'm including myself in the we here, guys, because how often do you find yourself saying, I'm tired, I don't feel good, I don't have time, it's going to be hard. It is so easy to complain, to judge, and not just ourselves, but others as well. And what Florence says is that every time you open your mouth, it is a creative act. Like when you speak positive words, you are blessing yourself. You're blessing others. When you speak negatively over yourself or your life, you are literally cursing yourself. So every sentence that you repeatedly speak is a command to the subconscious and a declaration to what she calls divine law. And so your words are seeds. that you are planting and they eventually become your reality. This is so important to understand because it can feel like trying to change your beliefs, even just becoming aware of them or the way that you think or the way that you feel is hard. And that may in and of itself be a limiting belief, but it is much easier to be aware of what you're saying and to change the way that you speak. So one of the really powerful tools in personal growth that I don't think has gotten very much attention that really isn't spoken about very much, no pun intended, is to use your language and what you speak on a regular basis as a way to change your consciousness. So I'm going to walk you through 5 principles from Your Word Is Your Wand that you can take and use as a framework To go beyond today's episode and create real change in yourself and in your life. Principle number 1, what you say reveals what you think. Now, this is a super powerful and super simple observation that Florence makes. She says that your words reveal your consciousness. In other words, if I was to walk around for a week and record everything that you say, we'd have a pretty good idea of what your current state of consciousness is, like what you believe about yourself, what you believe about money, what you believe about time, about relationships, whether you were someone who was confident or someone who was indecisive, someone who compared yourself to other people or who had high self-esteem or personal insecurities. Your thoughts, which are very subtle vibrations, make their way into reality first and foremost through your speech. In other words, your mouth is like a portal. Between your inner world and the external reality. And the words that flow out become the seeds that you're planting into your reality. And this is so true. You know, if you're hanging out with someone who has a lot of self-confidence, they don't use words that would sound like people pleasing. They don't constantly apologize. They don't say things to try to impress other people. Their words prove who they are and who they are is their consciousness. But on the other hand, if you're hanging out with someone who is financially insecure, for example, they'll put down other people who have money. They'll talk about how they never have enough money. They'll talk about how they can't afford things or how money is hard to make because that's the current state of their consciousness. What's amazing about this is that if you can begin to catch yourself and the words that you speak that are not in alignment with the reality that you want and you close the portal, You close your mouth. Over time, you'll literally choke that old consciousness out and your reality will begin to change. I mean, think about this. Think about if you could just go 7 days without complaining. Like, if you could go 7 days without complaining, what a new habit you would be building inside of yourself and what a different person you would be because you would no longer be a person who's complaining. And if you were no longer a person who's complaining, do you think if you were able to build that kind of discipline, it might start to change your perception, change your relationships, change your reality. Science actually tells us that it will. There was a well-known mental and physical conditioning coach. I've talked about him before, Trevor Moad, and he worked with collegiate and professional athletes. And what he discovered was that negative language and complaining dramatically affected athletic performance. And so he worked with championship players and teams like Russell Wilson, the University of Alabama football team, Florida State's 2013 national championship team. And he focused almost exclusively on what's called language reconditioning. And there was a massive direct correlation between players and teams who learned to speak optimistically and their increase in performance on the football field, literally by learning to eliminate complaining and negative self-talk, they were able to increase their performance. And what Mo had found was that negative speech was actually 10 times more powerful than positive speak. And so here we're not even talking about having to uncover your limiting beliefs and change your beliefs. We're not talking about having a perfect mindset. We're not even talking about speaking positively all the time. We're just saying eliminate the negative self-talk and your negative language, and you can dramatically increase your life results. And this makes sense when you understand principle number 2. Principle number 2, Your words reinforce your identity. Now, it's one thing for someone to tell you that you can't afford something or that money is hard to make, or even that you are not good enough or you don't deserve to be loved or that you're not worthy of abundance. But it's a much different thing when you tell yourself that, when you speak it and hear it in your own words. Because when others speak negatively about you, it still has to pass through your conscious filter. Like, okay, do I believe what they're saying? Do I agree with it? Like, what do I even think about this person? Do I value what this person has to say? Do I trust what this person has to say? And while we may all find ourselves at different times being influenced by what other people say and think, at least we have a filter here. But when you say something about yourself, it penetrates directly to the subconscious mind. Why? Because when you speak about yourself in a particular way, you assume it to be true. I always mess up. I never get it right. It's always my fault. Those words reinforce the old limiting beliefs, and they continue to strengthen the neural pathways that have built your identity and keep you locked into that identity. And therefore that reality, because your identity is always going to reflect back to you who you believe yourself to be. But the good news is that when we use the same process, we can actually begin to rebuild or reprogram our identity. This is why affirmations can be so powerful. When we affirm ourselves, that also goes directly to the subconscious mind and starts to reprogram who we believe ourselves to be. So I am worthy. I am good enough. I'm always learning every day in every way. I'm getting better and getting stronger. I want you to think about how do you speak about yourself today? Do you speak about yourself using powerful language? Or do you sometimes use negative, which is destructive language? And just notice for the next 24 hours what words you speak about yourself. Do a little inventory. Even if you notice just a couple of times that you were about to say something negative about yourself and you keep that portal closed, that will begin to create powerful subconscious shifts that over time will change not only your life, but will also change you. Again, it's not about doing this perfectly. It's about making Small changes that produce dramatic results in your life. I think that's why Christ said, all you need is the faith of a mustard seed to tell the mountain to go from here to there. The mustard seed was the smallest seed. Small changes create dramatic results. Principle number 3, faith is certainty before evidence seen. This is one of my favorite things that Florence talks about. And a lot of modern readers think that Florence is talking about positive thinking, but that's actually not accurate. What she's obsessed with is one thing, which is faith, not hope. She says, hope says, I wish. Faith says it already exists and it's only a matter of time. And so she really emphasizes the importance of faith, faith of those things that are not yet seen. And she continually tells stories about people acting as though their answer already exists. She talks about one client of hers who was buying furniture before the house even appeared, another one who was preparing a room. before the opportunity even arrived. Another person giving money when they actually didn't really have much to give or making plans before circumstances justify themselves. These are what she called demonstrations of faith. And one of my favorite distinctions from her work is this: hope waits, faith prepares. And that is a phenomenal distinction. And how does it relate to the words that you speak? Stop speaking as if you're waiting. Acknowledge Today that I am healthy. I am abundant. I am worthy today. Because the truth is that there is a healthy, wealthy, worthy version of you that does exist right here, right now. It's just that that version simply hasn't materialized yet. That current version of you, the you right now, is one version of you. It is really old news. It's a byproduct of how you've been thinking and feeling and speaking in the past. But so what? Today is a new day. And what you speak today becomes your soon-to-be tomorrow. This is why so many people struggle with the idea of incantations or affirmations. They say, yeah, but what I'm saying is not true. I'm not healthy. I'm sick. I'm not wealthy. I'm broke. I'm not worthy. But we live in a multidimensional reality. We only perceive one sliver of that reality, a third-dimensional reality that our senses can detect. But there's a 4th-dimensional field where all possibilities exist right here, right now. The great mystic Neville Goddard spoke about this, and that reality is as equally valid as this 3rd-dimensional, 5-senses reality that sort of dominates our attention. But we dismiss it because it doesn't seem to be here yet. What I'm suggesting is don't dismiss it. Speak into that reality as if it were here today, because it is. Feed that reality. With your words and your energy. And given a short period of time, your current reality will be replaced by that one. So speak what you want now from a place of knowing it already is, and your reality must eventually catch up to match it. Principle number 4, there is no competition. Now, this is an amazing concept, and it is important if you want to eliminate the negative self-talk around comparing or scarcity or feeling like there's a limited amount of supply in the world. Around things like time or money. What Florence says is that someone else's success cannot take away or diminish yours. One person's abundance cannot reduce yours. And this is one of the most psychologically healthy teachings in the book, because when you truly believe that you are on your own divinely guided path and that any desire that has been put into your heart comes with the resources to fulfill on that desire, regardless of what other people's own individual paths look like, then there's no need for comparison. There's no need for jealousy. There's no need for scarcity. And you stop asking like, well, how do I get ahead of those people? Or worrying that other people have things and how it might take away from what you want. And instead you simply focus on your own path. You know, not that long ago, I used to feel this way. You know, when I decided I wanted to start helping people and sharing my thoughts and perspectives, I started studying the space and believe it or not, before I really got into this work, I didn't really know who Tony Robbins was. And a friend of mine said, hey, you should go check him out. Like you're thinking about becoming a life coach back when I called myself a life coach. And so I went to this Tony Robbins event and there were like 10,000 people there. And he was incredibly impressive. I mean, it was 4 unbelievable days and man, what an experience. And I remember comparing myself to that and going, well, what's the point of me doing what I'm doing? Like, if that already exists, then that space is already taken. Why does the world need me? They already have a Tony Robbins, or they already have a Joe Dispenza, or they already have an Eckhart Tolle. But I came to realize that there are people who need to hear the perspective that I share, and there are people who aren't interested in the perspectives of other people. Everything is a frequency. Everything is a resonance. And that ultimately that meant there's space for everybody. And I found that to be true. And that was one of the beautiful things when I found Florence's work. I was like, ah, there's that distinction. There is no competition. If God or your higher power puts something in your heart, it means that that's what you're being called to do. And all of the resources that are necessary come along with it, regardless of what you see else out there. And it also gives you an opportunity to live in more gratitude. I'm grateful for the work that other teachers do. I'm grateful for how many people have been called into personal growth by a lot of the people who have paved the way over the last 20, 30, 40 years for the work that I now get to share in the world and the opportunity for us to be here together. So again, the truth is that there's enough for everyone. And as you stop speaking unintelligently over yourself, that actually allows your path to begin to unfold and begin to align so that you can actually close the gap between where you are and the desire that you have. Over a short period of time, that future that you envision will become your present moment. Principle number 5, resistance strengthens what you fight. Now, this theme appears repeatedly in Your Word Is Your Wand. What Florence says is attention is the creative force, and what you focus on expands. Now, I've shared that one of my mentors once told me that what you make matter becomes matter. What you put your attention on crystallizes from the 4th dimension to the 3rd dimension. It becomes available to the 5 senses, and it becomes your reality. And as humans, we tend to focus on the absence or the lack or the negative. It's part of the survival-based mechanism of the human being operating system. It's kind of a funny thing. It's like the moment you get clear that you want something, you're aware of 2 things. You're aware of the thing that you want, but you're also aware of the absence of it. And what ends up happening is the mind will just begin to explain the absence of it. We talk about the absence of it and we start to reinforce beliefs around the absence of it. And so the absence Remains because it's given so much attention. But the key is to starve out the absence, to literally choke it out and to choke out the problem and to give it no airtime. But you say, you know, hey, don't I have to solve the problem? Don't I have to figure out how to actually create the thing that I want, how to be, how to create more health, how to find my soulmate, how to, you know, figure out how to create a successful business or become financially abundant. And I would say, no, that's not actually your job. The problem will solve itself. The solution will emerge and you will be a part of it. But the point is to stop talking about the problem or the absence of what you want. I've shared this story on other episodes, but back in 2023, when I launched the podcast, I was getting about 5,000 listeners a month and I was recording a couple of episodes every single week. And I was probably at episode 60, episode 70. Yeah. I wasn't seeing a lot of growth and I was becoming frustrated. I was paying a lot of attention to the underperformance of the podcast. And at about that time, my son was born. And when my son was born, I, all of my attention went to him. He sort of entered my solar system and rearranged the entire physics of my reality. And what was interesting is that after a short period of time, the podcast took off. I literally went from 5,000 listeners a month to a million listeners a month over the period of one month. And a friend of mine said, hey, like, how did that happen? How did the podcast explode? And my answer was, I stopped paying attention to the underperformance of the podcast. And so I stopped making that matter. And the byproduct of that was actually what I wanted. So stop making your problems matter. Stop bringing resistance to your current reality and stop speaking about them because speaking about them only strengthens them. So what's the takeaway from all of this? I don't think Florence Scovel Shinn was giving us a manifestation technique. I think she was actually giving us an identity practice because every word that you speak is either reinforcing the person that you've been or rehearsing the person that you're becoming. Every complaint strengthens old neural pathways. Every declaration of possibility strengthens new ones. And every day you're teaching your subconscious who you are. And over time, your subconscious organizes your emotions, Your behaviors, your decisions, your relationships, your frequency, and ultimately that creates your life. So maybe your word really is your wand, not necessarily because you're magically controlling the universe, but because you're continually shaping the consciousness that creates reality itself. So this week, here's my challenge for you. Become a guardian of your portal. Watch what comes in and out of your mouth. Remember, your mouth is the portal between your inner world and the world that you're creating. So before you speak, ask yourself a simple question: is what I'm about to say strengthening the person that I'm becoming or the person I'm trying to leave behind? And if it isn't aligned, don't say it. Close the portal. Because every word you refuse to speak weakens an old identity, and every word that you intentionally choose plants new seeds. And enough new seeds becomes a new you, and a new you becomes a new life. So I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed sharing it with you. If you want help identifying a couple of core limiting beliefs that you're probably speaking on a regular basis, I've got an amazing free tool for you. All you have to do is check it out in the description of this episode. There's a link. It's a David AI-powered assessment that is going to take you through a 3-minute process, identify a couple of your biggest limiting beliefs, and it's going to give you an amazing tool, my decision matrix process, to help you transform them and really be present over the next couple of days, the next couple of weeks to the words that you are speaking. Again, if you haven't checked that out, you can find the link in the show notes. It's absolutely free. It only takes a couple of minutes. You're going to absolutely love it. And if you have not yet, do me a favor. Subscribe, man, are we building an amazing community here because this is not a do-it-yourself project. This is a do it with others. So if you haven't yet, please subscribe, hit that bell for notifications. And if there's somebody that, you know, who needs to hear this episode, pay it forward and share it with them. Until next time, I love you so much. Thank you for being here with me and I will see you in the next episode. Hey, it's David. One more thing. If you want to go even deeper on everything we've talked about on today's episode, don't forget to jump over to www.davidbaire.com. You can find the link in the show notes and subscribe to our newsletter. A couple of times a week, I'm going to be sending you the latest episodes that we've released along with additional free trainings. You'll get immediate access to my free mind hack ebook and go even deeper into all the tools, the technologies, and the frameworks that have helped tens of thousands of people establish A Changed Mind. Don't forget to jump on over to the site, and I will see you in the next episode.