“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

The old playground rhyme may be a quirky quip, but it’s never really held true, has it? Words can definitely hurt us, and it’s something we are seeing more than ever as even the most powerful people in the world hurl insults at each other.

But have you ever stopped to think about the effect of the words you direct at yourself?

In a powerful Instagram post singer Alicia Keys has reminded us all that words have immense power, and said the course of her life was changed once she realised this.

She posted a picture on Instagram of a quote which read: “Replace sorrys with thank you’s. Instead of “sorry I’m late” try “thank you for waiting on me”.

“Change your mindset.”

Keys said the quote reminded her of “being aware of the words we choose and the mindstate we’re in”.

In the caption she wrote: “I’ve been talking a lot about the power of words lately.

“I believe so strongly that the words we use shape the direction of our life.”

She describes how her life changed because she stopped using words to admonish herself: “I used to always say, “Well, you know my luck” one day my friend said, “Why do you say that? You’re literally claiming to have bad luck like you’re cool with it??!!!” At the time I didn’t realize I had picked up that bad self-admonishing habit since a kid. I never said that phrase again.

“I KNOW it changed the outcome of my life.”

As a musician and activist Keys is no stranger to the strength of the right words: she fired up the crowds at the Women’s March on Washington with her rendition of Girl on Fire and she wrote a powerful essay about why women shouldn’t feel pressured to wear make-up.

So next time you go to tell yourself off or do yourself down with your words, why not try saying something positive instead?

Image: Getty