Here are 10 phrases successful people never use

 

I've spent some time around unsuccessful people.
Most of them live in a bubble of hopelessness trying to figure out how to break out of their cell (or cubicle). It's sad. One person I know is so unhappy and stuck that he seems to always be moving backwards, not forwards — faltering so much in his lack of productivity that it's almost comical. Being around unsuccessful people is never fun.

If you listen to folks who can't seem to push ahead in their career or who have never started a company or led large groups of people, they all seem to mimic the same speech patterns. They talk the same language. Here are the ten phrases they always use. Spot this negative talk in others (or in yourself) and you'll find the cog in your business growth.

1. "That's impossible"

The most unsuccessful people are always pointing out what is not possible. "Oh, we can't make an app like that because it will compete too much with Tumblr" or "That new Bluetooth speaker won't generate any sales because there are too many on the market already." They live in a world of impossibilities; they have a can't-do attitude. And they are sinking the ship of success.

2. "I can do it all myself"

When you hear someone on your team or a colleague insisting how she can finish a project or how he can complete the work better without any help from other employees, take note: that person is going to slow things down and is ruining the project. They will not create an atmosphere of success but only have their own ambition in mind. Ironically enough, unsuccessful people are always those who push their own agenda and don't see the value of teamwork. That's the very thing that ruins their career.

3. "I have a problem with that"

Nit-pickers never prosper. I remember going to meetings in my corporate career with dozens of people sitting at tables in a big room. Inevitably, someone would always stand up and start venting about some highly specific pet peeve in front of the entire crowd. They should have started wearing a sign that said "unsuccessful" to the meeting. They found one problem and then over-focused on it to bring the whole team down.

4. "Don't forget the details"

People who are really unsuccessful are crippled by their task list. The most successful people are those who see the end goal and know how to get there. Most importantly, they know that the details on a project are a means to an end. Finishing a task list is not a sign of overall success; creating a lasting company that makes an outstanding product is.

5. "I like my own idea"

Have you noticed how people at work sometimes only like their own ideas? It is a sign of selfishness and shows an inability to embrace the team objective. It also spells disaster. Those who only like and promote their own ideas are severely limited, because none of us can achieve success only with our own ideas. Imagine trying to build a company by never entertaining any other ideas. Collaboration always propels a company forward.

6. "I don't need your input"

Here's another phrase people use when they have decided not to work as a team. It's a little different from saying you can do it all by yourself. It means that person is not even open to ideas. Projects stall out and fizzle when those on the team stop seeking input from others. When a curmudgeon comes along and says he or she doesn't need any more input from anyone, that person has essentially decided not to be a success.

7. "I already know that"

This phrase is a sign of pure defensiveness — it means a grumbler in your company has stopped trying to learn and grow and has become more interested in being perceived as all-knowing. It's one thing to speak knowledgeably about a topic and add insight; it's another to constantly insist on being the only smart one. One is a sign of being helpful to a project and the second is a sign of pure self-ambition.

8. "Let me check my schedule"

If someone always insists on checking their schedule for availability, that person is inhibiting a project's success. It might be a valid excuse, but it could also be a way to avoid being helpful. In my experience, it means that person is sending a message about being too busy to help a project along and too focused on a personal agenda. They say let me check "my" schedule instead of figuring out the overall needs. Sometimes, it's better to just jump on an opportunity and worry about scheduling later.

9. "You must be wrong about that"
Wait, the other person must be wrong? Really? This phrase is a red flag on the road to success because the person saying it is assuming the people he or she works with are dummies; they believe there is only one "right" person in the room. That's rarely the case. Instead, it's a sign of success when you admit you need help. It's better to accept that others might be right about something and accept your own limitations.

10. "I can't"

Unsuccessful people like to talk about what they can't do. Starting a company means embracing the fact that there will be countless roadblocks. Talk about what you can do. People will tell you what is not possible, but when anyone starts using the word "can't" it means trouble. Saying you can't do something means you forgot about a basic tenet: that person has started to take "no" for an answer and stopped looking for workarounds.

-- John Brandon, Inc.

This article originally appeared at Inc.

Drug from Indian spices to fight hypertension

The search for an affordable drug to treat hypertension without side effects has led scientists to the Indian kitchen. Some spices and condiments commonly used in Indian soups, curries and rasam, when taken in a specific proportion with white lotus petals, can bring down blood pressure, say scientists after an animal study done in Chennai.

Researchers found that Siddha drug 'venthamarai chooranam,' a mixture of cardamom, ginger, cumin seeds, long pepper (thippili), dill (sada kuppi), licorice (adimadhuram) and white lotus petal could bring down blood pressure in rats during laboratory experiments. Excited by the finding published recently in science journal Experimental Biology and Medicine, doctors at the Sri Ramachandra University are now gearing up for a larger animal study and clinical trials of the Siddha drug.

Genetically predisposed to hypertension, one in four Indians in cities suffer from the disorder. The incidence is about 15% in rural population. Cardiologist Dr S Thanikachalam, who led the research, said: "Every time I see a patient's case sheet, I underline four causes - smoking, diabetes, hypertension and obesity." People with hypertension are mostly treated with allopathic drugs, but dropouts are high because many find the drugs expensive and some suffer from side effects. "So, we decided to look at the ancient Indian medical literature for answers," he said.



Scientists first tried the Siddha powder on rats and found it effective. "When we gave this chooranam for 63 days and the blood pressure dropped," said C Saravana Babu, a toxicologist who was a part of the research. Pathological reports showed the drug had made healthy changes in the genes, tissues and blood vessels, he said. The herbal medicine will be put to further animal and human test, before it can be given to humans, Dr Thanikachalam said.

During the study the doctors divided the rats into three groups - for the first the abdomen was cut and closed, for the second and third the scientists partially blocked blood supply to one of the kidneys. Two months after the surgery, most rats became hypertensive and they developed problems in the blood vessels, kidneys and heart. Scientists used special equipment that could measure blood pressure in rats' tails.

While the second group was fed with a placebo, the third was orally fed venthamarai chooranam at a dosage of 400g per kilogram bodyweight for 63 days. "We started noticing changes from the third day. At the end of two months, the blood pressure was almost normal," said Saravana Babu. But what surprised scientists was not just the change in blood pressure, but other actions as normalization of the carotid arteries and kidney.

Scientists feel that the presence of an enzyme called eNOS enhanced nitric oxide level and helped carotid arteries. "The inflammation in kidney was reversed in almost all animals. Pathological reports showed the drug make healthy changes in the genes, tissues and blood vessels," he said.

The drug has exhibited its anti-hypertensive properties, but doctors want to expand the animal study to see if this works in chronic conditions. "In these animals, hypertension was acute, as it developed after a surgery. We will have to test them on animals with chronic conditions," said Dr Thanikachalam. "If that succeeds, we will begin our clinical trials. We hope it would offer cure to millions of people with hypertension," he said.

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