In front of the train station there ran and played two boys - brothers, I figured. The older was about seven, and the younger about five. The older boy ran faster and was surer on his feet than the younger one. They began to race. Trailing a little distance behind, there was the mother, who anxiously called out to the younger boy “be careful! you’ll fall! you’ll fall!”

And the younger boy fell, and started to cry.

She berated him “see, I told you you’d fall.”

Bad suggestion. Bad hypnosis. Not only did she suggest that he fall, but she was also psychologically kicking him while he was down.

Kids are born enthusiastically testing the limits of their world. Better to have just let the boy run, and then if he’d fallen, say “That’s okay, you’re just getting faster and faster every day. Keep running, and your balance will get better and better, too. Now take a deep breath, and let’s walk for awhile.”

Ask yourself: do you set the people around you up for success or failure with your words?