Cliche is the Death of Great Advice Misunderstood...

WHY SHOULD YOU KEEP READING? 

-If you want a different perspective on why our words lose weight  and meaning over time. 
- You want to create more awareness in your conversations.
- You want more meaning in your life from thinking about your words.


OH THAT'S SO CLICHE!   

Who doesn't love a good cliche? Who hates them? Do we even know what a cliche is? 

Cliche is the death of what was once great advice (this is my own definition).  It was a lesson, perhaps, that all humans should understand and grasp to help them understand life, its trials and happiness. 


HOW DOES IT BECOME CLICHE? 

As time passes, certain phrases become popular and overused to the point they lose their original meaning.  You might have heard someone say to you "oh that's so cliche!" 

If used correctly, it came right after you expressed a thought using an unoriginal phrase.  In other, words you didn't search for your own words to describe what you were feeling.  Moreover, the phrase you used has become convoluted over time, losing its meaning and strength to make an impact in conversation. 

SO EVEN MORE SIMPLE...YOU WOULD BE BETTER OFF FINDING YOUR OWN WORDS TO EXPLAIN SOMETHING. AND THAT'S THE PROBLEM.  WE'RE LOSING OUR ABILITY TO DO THIS FROM RELYING ON OTHER PEOPLE'S WORDS. WE'RE NOT SPENDING ENOUGH TIME LOOKING INTERNALLY AND ARE OVERLOADED EXTERNALLY WITH INFORMATION.

WE'RE BECOMING ROBOTS AND PAWNS WITH LESS ORIGINAL THOUGHTS.


​WHERE AM I GOING WITH THIS? 

Our society is having an insufferable time right now communicating for various reasons....some of which (my opinion here) are the following...

1.  We're not teaching younger generations how to express themselves in the education system well enough.  Too much emphasis on assigning loads of homework and telling kids how to think instead of how to understand themselves (I understand this isn't every teacher or school).

2.  As coaches, parents and anyone in a role of raising and educating kids we are unaware of how we imprint our own insecurities and vices into our children.  This can slow down the development of a person.  Read Alice Miller's "The Drama of a Gifted Child."

3.  Whenever we want to see drastic change in any one area of society we mostly try and make one particular group feel really guilty and awful about themselves, expect change right away and completely give zero validation to progress out of fear by doing so we won't make change, OR GET OUR WAY.


WHERE ELSE DOES THIS SHOW UP IN OUR LIVES? 

It affects our relationships with friends and our partners.  Brianne and I at age 26 and 32 have just begun to get good at telling each other what we need.

We've worked for years at realizing our current habits and emotional patterns were making us unhappy together and a part. 

We learned where our habits came from and why they developed.  We essentially worked really hard to figure out who we were, to become who we wanted to be. 

We had to stop making ourselves feel awful for who we were. 

We had to forgive ourselves to forgive others.

It was very difficult. 


​FINAL THOUGHTS:

In life, one of our most valuable skills we can develop is great communication.  I would argue that most of my success has come off of my ability to communicate my knowledge well.  

In short, I'd rather be able to explain what I know very well than have a lot of information I can't explain.  The later doesn't help many people; for me, that's important.