Do or do not – there is no try…

First Published 5 August 2021

I still remember a presentation at a networking event (back when we were allowed to do these face to face) where the presenter asked for a volunteer to try to pick up a bottle.  The volunteer then picked the bottle up.  The presenter then stated that he hadn’t ‘tried’ to pick the bottle up – that he actually had picked the bottle up… this then created a lot of puzzled faces until the penny dropped – when it comes to picking up a bottle, you either do it or you don’t!

That was a definite lightbulb moment for me that really stuck.  Over the last week or so I have found myself discussing this with clients and on 1:1 zoffee chats and thought perhaps I would ‘try’ to talk to more people about it.

How often do we use words like ‘try’ in our day to day interactions? Are these words helpful? What other words are in your vocabulary that it would be best to minimise, or are there words other people use that always catch your attention?

‘Should‘ and ‘Shouldn’t‘ are another couple of my favourites.  Who said that you should or shouldn’t do something?  Are you putting your own barriers up or did they come from somewhere else – perhaps they might even be linked to some limiting beliefs that you might want to clear out…

My suggestion this week is to perhaps pay a little bit more attention to the words and language you use.  And maybe ditch the words and thought patterns that aren’t helpful to you and your success in life?

So in the words of the extremely wise Yoda – Do or do not, there is no try!

Share the words you want to banish below…