THE

POWER OF WORDS

Athina Brox
Antioch University, Academic Writing 310
THE POWER OF WORDS


As a student studying business and entrepreneurship I find following and
pursuing my dreams as really important to me, because by having dreams and goals
I feel like life has a bigger meaning. I think that most of the students in Antioch is on
the very same path as me; following our dreams to get one step closer to our goals in
life, whether your goal is to be a psychologist, - to be a be a business consultant, - to
be a owner of a non-profit, - or simply to be the best version of you. In school, love,
and life in general, there are ups and downs, and sometimes it is hard to get through
our daily lives and we need that extra motivational boost to get through it all.
Therefore the natural choice for writing my final paper was to interview a mental-
trainer, - life can be quite challenging for us as humans from time to time, and
motivation is the key to get through our daily tasks, our assignments, finals, or job-
days; therefore we should read more motivational books and train our mentality.
What we think and what words we tell ourselves throughout the day, affects us
more than we know. Self-development books can give you a kick in the but, with the
intention for you to reach for your goals without the author actually kicking you
physically; but, by doing so only by his written words.

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This summer the famous Norwegian mental coach and author Erik Bertrand
Larssen is launching his book Hell Week in the US. This is his second book, and it
goes under the genre of self-development books - a book that is written with the
intension of helping or motivating the reader; it often comes with instructions or
tips to improve yourself or your situation. Larssen is a former Marinejeger which
is a special soldier in the Norwegian military. He went through a tough time in the
Norwegian military, and there is one sentence from his commander in chief that he
remembers the best: You are capable of so much more than you think! Larssen
realized that you can train your mind, and that you are capable of overcoming more
than you originally thought you could, just by the words you tell yourself, or by
others.

He is now not only a famous author in Norway, he also owns a successful

company, where he and other mental-coaches in his company, coach clients in
bigger, and smaller groups or even on-to-one. Their clients range from highly
famous athletes, Microsoft engineers as well as famous pop artists, and even
students.
Through Erik Bertrand Larssens books, TV shows and seminars he is
teaching people how you can achieve your dream and how to pursue your dreams. -
And he sure is setting a good example for his audience: One of Larssens own
dreams were to launch his book in the US. This is a big step from small Norway to all
the way across the ocean, - and he made it because he followed his dream, and didnt
give up.

THE POWER OF WORDS

That is what he encourages us to do throughout his book; to keep going and
reach for our goals. I find it very fascinating how someones written words put in
text or in a speech can be so effectual.
In his book he uses a lot of cool moves", some of them are not as easy to
point out, because it just falls naturally in his text, but an example is when he uses
bolded letters, - it makes us as readers instantly aware of what we are going to read
and what the section is about, we also know that the words in bold it is the keywords
of that paragraph. He also use metaphors, where he paints a picture that we can
relate to, in chapter one, En slyfe p trden, a Norwegian expression for when
you face an obstacle, - except - Larssen changed one of the words to something
positive and it makes us wonder, what does that really mean?? - It makes us
curious. This is definitely a very cleaver move. His moves, structure, and jargon, in
the book make him stand out as an author, which makes more people want to buy
his book and that is something that Larssen is dependent on, since many other
authors already write this genre and the competition is big. Self-develop books are
one of the toughest genres to reach through, but as we come to learn: Bertrand is
not one to back down.
Reading his book made me realize how scared he first was in the military and
I had to ask him if he ever wanted to back down, or quit, like many of us often do, -
with our jobs, schools, or studies. I asked him about his military training and what
his feelings was when he first got into it. He told me that he yes, at some point he
doubted himself, wondering if he had taken water over his head, where the other
guys seemed so robust, and he was so scared. He further on tells me how he was

THE POWER OF WORDS

totally out of his own comfort zone, but some specific words from a tough military
chief is the reason he didnt back down: You are capable of so much more than you
think! Those words from his military chief became his main inspiration, and after
his completion of the training he became a mental coach, and he made his own
seminars people could attend to.
In his seminars he talks about how you should jump out of bed in the
morning and what you should start telling yourself. The words are definitely not
can I snooze for five more minutes? he jokes. From there he uses an example with
a famous sports-man in Norway, Ole Einar Bjrndalen a champion in skiskyting,
(a winter sport where you ski, and you have to aim with a riffle, and, hit blink.) when
he aims, he uses one word, - one word - to block out everything else around him, and
it makes him focus on hitting blink, in other words, reaching his goal. By telling this
story with evidence from Bjrndalen's own success, where Bjrndalen is one of
Larssen own students, he supports his statement that the words we tell ourselves
are so important in order to reach our goals.
There is one more story that Larsen often tells in his seminars, it is from his
early childhood. He states that he had a different kind of superhero when he was a
little boy. - He didnt care too much about superman, batman or any other heroes;
his biggest hero was his grandfather. His grandfather was a kind and a goodhearted
man who always encouraged Larssen. He always looked up to his grandfather, but
one day he started thinking about the stories he had learned from him, and he
questioned if he really was happy with his life. Larssen realized some years later
that his grandfather was so sad and not truly happy about his stories in life.

THE POWER OF WORDS

In his books and his seminars he encourages everybody to make sure that
one day when we are laying on our deathbeds, we should be happy and proud of our
stories. One day I will die is a phrase from his book, it may seem depressing, but he
follows this phrase up, and tells us about putting life in perspective. Most people go
through life, with heavy backpacks and blisters on their feet, forgetting to create an
amazing journey. He states that you should stop looking at only the blisters on
your feet, and start to look up to the sun, and the beautiful landscape around you,
even though walking with blisters can hurt, you must not forget that in order to feel
happy we must also experience sad. Here he explains it with a powerful quote from
Winston Churchill - If you go through hell, keep on walking. From that quote he
pursue his audience by telling about a hard time in his own life, and how lucky we
are to feel sad and low - claiming that hard times is also good; in order to achieve
great we need the hard times. He claims that we can not say, I want to be good, - I
want good grades - I want success, - without also saying - I want the struggle - I
want to be uncomfortable and, - I want the pain. - Which is really true, in order to
be great you need a challenge! In order to get good grades in school you need to
work for it!
Working on it and never give up is two things Larssen names as two main
factors for success. - It is no secret that there has been plenty of so called success
advisors, and entrepreneurial minds, that takes money for their courses, but the
reason Larssen has made it this far, is among other things by knowing his audience.
Knowing what language to use, and knowing whom your target is is so important,
you need to know how you use rhetoric; this is some of the key elements when

THE POWER OF WORDS

hitting nr one on a best-selling list. Larssen has cracked the code of reaching out to
his audience. Here I offer my definition: rhetoric is what allows you to write (and
speak) appropriately for a given situation, one that is determined by the
expectations of your audience, implied or acknowledged, whether you are texting,
writing a love letter, or bleeding a term paper. How to stand out, how to get your
readers hooked and to know your audience is the most important when you want to
be successful.

When Bertrand wrote his book Hell week he had to think about his audience,
who was he writing to, and how to hook them. Making a real-life connection is a
clever way to do it He starts his book challenging his audience, drawing lines from
his seven day hell week to make your own seven day hell week, which is supposed
to make you stronger. When writing a book like that, making it relatable for your
audience is so important. Bunn talks about this in p.72, the importance of writing
like a reader, you need to understand the purpose and whom it was intended to
reach. Larssons purpose is to reach an audience of people who seeks to improve
themselves and get extra motivation, it is only natural that Larssen use real-life
examples, which he conducted through interviews during many years, coaching and
interviewing people makes his facts updated and relevant. Larssen talks about
people we all have heard about and writes about Winston Churchill as an example,
supporting his evidences, as well as he talks about all kinds of different people he
met working in the field as a mental coach. If you think about all the questions he
asked his grandfather about his life, even that turned out to be good research for his
book years later!

THE POWER OF WORDS

Larssen uses what he conducts in his interviews with his clients when he
writes his books and speeches, it makes his speeches highly effectual and
persuasive, like in his seminar talking about his grandfathers who wished he had
done more with his life, this is also described in his first book. It is very important to
be persuasive when you have a big audience you are talking to. I think this relates to
our reading Finding Evidence, To be most persuasive, evidence should match the
time and place in which you make your argument. For Larssen it is always about
being updated and keeping his seminars relevant for what is happening now, and by
engaging his audience he is always updated.
Larssens self-developments books are so much more than just a genre in a
bookshelf; he is writing to help people change and reach for their goals. The way he
helps people is through real-life connections and experiences, and when he writes
and holds his public speeches he has to think about his moves; putting words in
bold, using a young language, We know damn well what to do () using words like
damn and painting pictures for us, There is no wonder we are asked on a plane to
put the oxygen mask on our selves before we help put it on somebody else, because
helping yourself is the best way to also help others this is written early in his book
as an introduction. From here he also states that you will not turn out as a selfish
monster by completing his hell week, but you will rather come out of it as a better
person. His way of speaking through text, the jargon and structure that he chooses
in his book awakens the reader's interest.
With only a word, a sentence, or a book Larsson shows us that you can get a
lot of motivation from it. Just think about how the words you are capable of so

THE POWER OF WORDS

much more than you think you are -effected Bertrand and how far he got from
those very words! Research shows that motivation or lack of motivation - is
learned, and by reading self-development books like Larssens Hell Week people
can truly benefit from it. After all, it is said that a bath doesnt last forever, neither
does motivation, that is why its recommended daily.