Last night, I was watching again the Star Wars movie and reminded myself of Yoda’s powerful words “Do or do not. There is no try..”
I very often listen to my clients, friends and of course myself use the word try. This is a word I want to eliminate from my vocabulary unless I refer to trying something on or a new experience. Otherwise, life has shown that there is no such thing as “trying”. You have two options. To either decide to take action towards something or to stay passive. Both are fine as long as you are mindful of and happy with your decision and choice.
Why do we then use the word “try” so often? Most of us don’t like taking action towards something new or unknown because we are unsure of the outcome. Will we have the desired outcome or not?
The word “try” keeps us secure by making us feel good in case of failure. It is a little something we hold for ourselves. But do we really commit to something when ‘we are trying’?
We wake up every morning to go to work because we are committed to it. We don’t try to go to work. We take our children to school because we are committed to it. We don’t try to drive them to school. Therefore, the question is simple. Do we truly commit to our choices?
Trying is the opposite to commitment. Trying is as if we commit to failure rather than success. When we are sure about our choices and we know that they are the right ones for us, then we can only truly commit to something.
When you catch yourself saying “I’ll try to do it” or you find yourself avoiding taking actions towards your goal then reflect and inquire for a moment. Am I committed to my goal? Perhaps questions like “Is this my vision and what I want for my life? Is it according to my values? Have I chosen that for myself? What brings me energy? What do I contribute? How do I want to keep moving forward for myself?” might be helpful to awaken your conscious thinking and hence your mindful actions.
When we commit, we are aware of our choice and we commit to success. Without doubt, without fear about the outcome. As Pat Riley has said “There are only two options regarding commitment; you are either in or you’re out. There is no such thing as life in-between.”
