Abraham Lincoln certainly was in "real world". So was Henry Ford. Napoleon Hill, Anthony Robbins, John Kehoe, and so list goes on.

Certainly, for most of us, words we read have little impact on us and our lives. Here I hope to offer another way to look at words, and hopefully give value of what words can mean with our goals and our lives.

The enormous amount of motivational material available - books, articles, motivational quotes - can (and does) help us to develop a positive attitude. But this does not occur by reading them as a novel or short story, that is, reading it once, and then never returning to material.

When we use concept known as spaced repetition, which is reading of material repeatedly, but with breaks in between, words, and in particular motivational words become a powerful aid. This has an exceptional effect on our subconscious mind (and also works well with learning new material). How much effort is there in that?

To use an example, consider following motivational quote: "If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change way you think about it." Let's consider how these words can help us to develop a positive attitude, and as result make us more content.

"If you don't like something, change it."

Example, are you in a job that absolutely drains you mentally, and emotionally? Have you seriously looked at changing jobs? And here key word is "seriously". Do we really investigate all our options? Do we consider dropping in salary (in short term), but have work that stimulates us? Do we make a concerted effort to look for other positions?

Now for second part. "If you can't change it, change way you think about it."

At first it didn't concern me, but a few days later I began thinking about his comment. I had obviously not made point clear, and therefore I decided to expand on this concept. And that is what you are reading here.

Words, as such, have no value apart from communicating an idea, belief, or instruction to our readers. But, combine words with mental capacity only we humans have, and power of words become awesome.

Ok, what am I on about here?

In my first article, I briefly touched on concept of spaced repetition. This is such a powerful and useful technique that I will expand on it here. I came across spaced repetition early in high school, and used it throughout my high school career.

It works like this: you read something (for not more than 45 minutes), then you take a break, with something totally unrelated; then you return and re-read same material. You alternate this with reading different material, and you will be amazed at what your retention level is. I never studied for a single exam throughout high school! I only used spaced repetition.