Words are not just sounds or letters on a page. They carry meaning. They trigger memories. They stir emotions. They influence how we think, how we feel, and ultimately how we act.
Words are the foundation of thoughts. The words we choose influence how we think, how we feel, and how we respond.
One person sees a problem. Another sees a challenge. The situation is identical. Only the word has changed, yet the reaction can be completely different.
Throughout this book, I will often use the words issue and challenge rather than problem. To me, a problem suggests fixed or unsolvable, and in my opinion, final. A challenge suggests possibility. It implies there may be choices, solutions, or opportunities for growth.
The words we use become part of the Human Algorithm. They shape our awareness, influence our feelings, affect our decisions, and ultimately help determine our actions.
Before we can understand how the Human Algorithm works, we first need to understand the language we use to describe our lives. The words we choose are often the first step in determining how we respond.
Many of the words we use every day appear to mean the same thing, but they don't. Their intention is different, and intention influences action.
Consider these words:
Try.
Attempt.
Effort.
Do.
At first glance they seem interchangeable. I don't believe they are.
If I asked you to raise your right arm, you probably would.
Unless you are physically unable, you simply do it.
Now suppose I asked you to try to raise your right arm.
What happened?
Did you raise it?
Or did you smile because the request suddenly sounded different?
In my opinion, you either raise your arm or you don't.
You can make an attempt to raise it.
You can put forth effort to raise it.
Both attempt and effort involve action.
But "try" often leaves the door open to not acting at all.
The words we choose matter.
Throughout this book, I will ask you to pay attention not only to what you say, but also to what you mean. Small changes in language can create significant changes in thinking. Changes in thinking influence choices. Choices influence actions. Actions influence outcomes.
Perhaps the Human Algorithm begins long before we realize it.
Perhaps it begins with the words we choose.
Problems, Challenges, Issues, Healing, and Cure
Words matter.
At first glance, you may think the words problem, challenge, and issue all mean the same thing. Most dictionaries list them as synonyms. I don't.
Over the years, I have intentionally given each word its own meaning because the meaning we assign to words influences how we think and how we react.
To me, a challenge is something that can be overcome. It may require knowledge, effort, time, or perseverance, but there is a reasonable expectation that something can be improved, corrected, or resolved.
An issue is different. I think of issues as concerns that often involve our health, emotions, relationships, or other aspects of life that deserve our attention. An issue may or may not have a simple solution, but it invites us to become aware, explore, and understand.
A problem, however, has a different meaning in my mind.
A problem feels permanent. It suggests there is no way around it, no movement, no possibility of change. Whether or not that definition is found in a dictionary is less important than what the word communicates to my mind.
That is why, throughout this book, I will rarely use the word problem. I choose to work with issues and challenges because they encourage movement rather than defeat. Reframing these words makes them easier to face, easier to work with, and ultimately easier to heal.
Which brings me to another pair of words that are often used as though they mean the same thing.
Heal and cure.
They are not the same.
A cure is the complete elimination of a disease, condition, or illness. It is the desired endpoint.
Healing is different.
Healing is the process of improving. It is adapting, growing, accepting, and moving forward. Healing changes our relationship with what has happened, even when a cure is not possible.
Many people live healed lives without being cured.
Someone living with Parkinson's disease may never be cured, yet still find healing by adapting, finding purpose, maintaining relationships, and living a meaningful life.
Someone grieving the loss of a loved one may never erase the loss, yet healing allows them to love, laugh, and live again.
Healing is not always about eliminating the challenge.
Sometimes healing is about changing the outcome by changing ourselves. It's not just surviving. It's thriving. It is working with the limitations and feeling good.
That distinction became one of the cornerstones of the Human Algorithm.