The Wisest and Wealthiest man ever, King Solomon, wrote "Death and life is in the power of the tongue."

(Proverbs18:21) Many examples could be used to show the truth of that statement. One example is the numerous studies that show that 75-85% of people in prison today were constantly told, "you will never amount to anything. You'll probably end up in jail." And sure enough, they did. Be careful what you say!

The REAL John Abbott

A more personal example for me concerns my name. My name really IS John Abbott. I have a website and an email address that uses my name. As my business grew, and I was speaking around the country, people would ask if my name was "really" John Abbott, like on "The Young and the Restless" soap opera.

I don't watch much tv, and I definitely don't watch soap operas! But, because of my name, I learned the character, John Abbott, was the wealthy owner of Jabbo Cosmetics on this tv show. As a JOKE, I started mentioning in my talks(or when I made a new friendship) that I was gonna sue "them" (the Young and the Restless people) for using MY name without my permission.

Paranoid CBS "kills" John Abbott

Well, newsflash to CBS, I was kidding! It was fun to think about taking them to court for using my name without permission. and all the publicity it could generate for ME and for THEM. But it was a Joke!

But CBS, apparently "heard" one of my talks, and, afraid of a potential lawsuit, "kills" John Abbott! Not me. but "their" fictional John Abbott. So, because of my kidding and CBS' paranoia, I have millions of "Young and Restless" fans mad at me! They blame me! I "killed" John Abbott! Again, be careful what you say!

I can linve with soap opera fans being mad at me. And I think the above story is kind of funny. But our final example is of a young man who actually "killed" his internet business with words!

An "almost" Superstar No names will be given, but a few years ago, a bright young man had a growing, successful internet business. As I recall, he was making hundreds of thousands of dollars, and was in his early twenties. He was slated to me, the next "super star, wealthy marketer!

Unfortunately, our young man(we'll call him "Bill" not his real name) got a little cocky and posted some unkind comments about another internet marketer on a very popular internet forum. The bottom line is, "Bills" comments were unjustified and just plain mean. People jumped on the forum to post comments that slammed "Bill" and defended the one he criticized.

Sadly, "Bill," rather than apologizing, got even more arrogant and even more critical. Maybe it was because he was so young and inexperienced in lifes ways, but this was the wrong thing for young "Bill" to do. Since the forum he chose to air slander was so popular, and the one he mailigned was also popular, "Bills" business dropped to literally nothing-almost overnight. That was several years ago, and "Bill", the young man with so much potential, destined to be a marketing superstar, is stil NOT doing much of anything now. Be careful what you say! Life and death IS in the power of the tongue! This man "killed" his business by being critical.

Speak NO Evil This reminds me of something that internet marketing legend Terry Dean once told me. He said he was never going to speak ill towards his fellow internet marketers. " I do not have competition" he said. " Just future Joint Venture "partners!" What a great attitude.

So, be careful what you say, especially in public(or public forums.) Life and death IS in the power of the tongue. Let's be like Terry Dean and speak life.