Trying is not doing, doing is doing

22 August 2009

How many times in a day do you think you will hear from yourself or from other people, the word “try”?
- Oh, when are you going to get that report done for me?
- I’ll try and get it done by the end of the day.
- Are you going to win that contract with X?
- I’ll try my best to.
- Darling, can you book some tickets for the Lion King tonight.
- I’ll try to get hold of some later.

Life doesn’t work this way, if you always end up trying, you’ll never end up doing. Think of it like this, do you only try to wash your face in the morning, or do you only try to make a cup of coffee, or do you only try to read a book?

No, of course not, you just get on a do it. It’s all in the mind. I’ve always said, whatever you can think of that’s possible in your life, you can get it as long as you believe you can.

Animals don’t try to do the things they do, they just go ahead and do it. If it doesn’t work out, they’ll learn how to NOT do it that way next time. So what is it about us human beings that never commit fully to something, and use the excuse to try?

Well I think it’s down to fear. You probably know that already. So many things come back down to fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of ridicule, fear of success, whatever the fear is, it’s enough to stop you from moving forward to achieve your dreams. Ultimately, your greatest fear is simply the fear that you wouldn’t know how to deal with the situation if it ever went wrong.

The fear that underlies all fears.

Think of all the times in the past where you tried something whether that be a new martial art, or a new dance, or a new language, or a new recipe. In all those things, are you still doing any of them? I once tried Capoeira, in fact I tried it 3 years and managed to get to a pretty decent level, however I’m no longer doing it, because I only tried it. If I had given it my commitment I would be doing it all the time.

This isn’t to say that once you are committed to something, you can’t lose interest. No, it’s merely saying that by committing you’ll give it 100% of your focus and really go for it. That’s how winners think.

Take one day, in the near future, and think to yourself, today I will NOT try to do anything, I will just DO. See how that affects your day and the results from it.