Dr. Laura:
I've been listening to you for about a year. You're now a voice in my head reminding me to "do the right thing" but also one MORE thing....
I am an over-user of the phrase "I just...." You are absolutely correct about what you've pointed out to callers about that phrase, so I am making a conscious effort to remove it from my lexicon. I have one more that I over-use - "I feel like..." I've come to the conclusion that both of those qualifiers are used to soften what I and others are about to say. It's a cop-out. Instead of saying "I feel like...." I'm substituting "I believe," "I think," or "in my opinion."
It's not easy to correct a way of speaking that, unfortunately, comes so naturally to me, but now that I'm conscious of it, I'm able to THINK before I speak, and then I replace those vague phrases with others that more accurately convey what I mean to say.
Thank you!
Vanessa
