Kick the Word Try Out of Your Vocabulary

In all truthfulness, I hate the word try. It works for children because you are creating interest and incentive if they make an attempt. And what usually follows if they fail?

“Well, at least you tried.”

My mom was like that with our food growing up. “I’m not telling you that you have to eat it all, but you have to at least try it. If you don’t like it, then don’t eat it.”

Surprisingly enough, I tried everything she cooked and liked most of it. My mom grew up in Pahokee and is an expert southern cook, everything from black-eyed peas, fresh collard greens, and fresh-cooked okra to homemade cornbread. I was never a fan of collards, though. You could put a heap-load of vinegar on them and I still wasn’t gonna eat them. But I loved the rest.

The point I’m making is as a child, the only way to learn to love something is to give it a try. Some kids may hate it. Some may love it and keep at it. The word “try” is a very important word when raising kids because it’s a new avenue and/or a new venture, somewhat a lesson in self-discovery.

As adults, we are faced with different challenges. If we want to achieve levels of success, we must learn to face adversity. We must learn to face our fears. We must learn to be receptive and respond to the pain and the scrutiny and the failures, should they come. And most of the time, they will. But the key goal to achieving the best results, to discover the best of you – the BEST YOU POSSIBLE – is no longer affording the opportunity to try.

When it comes to goals and reaching new heights, you have to be in a mindset that nothing will hinder you or keep you from reaching the mountaintop. Of course, that all depends on you. If any of the elements I discussed with you earlier are missing, chances are you will only be willing to “try.” You may or may not succeed. But that just means that it wasn’t enough to set out to achieve in the first place. And to make sure I stray from “Debbie-Downer” status, I firmly believe that is not the case at all. You would not be reading this if you truly and genuinely didn’t care if you succeeded. But since you truly and genuinely DO want to be successful, then let’s just say for argument's sake that there is no other alternative but to succeed. With that in mind, I want to discuss why the word “try” is not an option.

When you began reading this, at what point did you hear Yoda’s quote, “No! Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.”

Nothing could be truer than that quote. Whether it was Leigh Bracket (who passed away before completing the Empire Strikes Back script) or Lawrence Kasdan who was brought in to finish it, it is a genius line. I rank that among one of the all-time greatest lines from any movie. It is brilliant. It has a world of meaning. And it applies to everyone, every day for our entire lives.

I spoke early on about how the word “excuse” is merely a word that blankets a choice. When you make excuses, you are in essence making choices or decisions not to achieve. The word try has a different, underlying subtext. It is an open-ended word meaning that there is the possibility of success or failure.

You may be thinking, “What about that quote, ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again?’”

The first part rings true. If at first you don’t succeed, continue on until you DO succeed!

“But what you are saying doesn’t make sense?”

Here’s the thing. We are all capable of trying things – new restaurants, a new food item, a new route home, a different routine. That’s not what I’m talking about. What I AM talking about is getting you to reach your goals. When you set off to do so, you have to go in with the mindset that you are not going to TRY to be successful. You have to say, “I am going to DO this. I WILL be successful.” End of discussion!

To me, the word “try” is a copout way of saying you will give something a shot and if it fails, oh well. “Try” is not a committed word because there is the possibility of success or failure without the possibility of doing it again. Doing or to do – that is a commitment. Not doing – that is a commitment. So next on your notepad, I want you to write down the following:

WHEN YOU TRY, YOU ARE NOT COMMITTING TO YOUR SUCCESS. WHEN YOU DO, YOU COMMIT 100%.

You know what I find funniest? It is such a simple concept with such a huge result. And it never donned on me until I was listening to people talk about their successes and failures. Those that succeeded always spoke of what they DID to get results. Those that failed always spoke of what they TRIED and the results they were unable to attain. They failed because they weren’t committed to their success.

What I love most is those who succeeded will tell you about all the times they failed and what they had to DO to achieve their goals. They didn’t try. They set forth and did not let anything get in their way, including their failed attempts. But those that failed didn’t commit…their mindset was set on trying rather than doing, because that gave them the option to say in response to their lack of success, “At least I tried.” All they had to do was keep doing, finding different ways to combat those failures so they would essentially find success. But “try” was their word; “doing” was not.

You are just like anyone when it comes to mindset. The way you program your thinking will be the way you set out to tackle your goals. And the only way to ensure success is to get rid of the defeatist attitude. Believe you are just as able and just as capable as anyone on the planet to get where you want to be and do what you want to do.

There will be obstacles, sure. There will be roadblocks, of course. But they are merely minor discrepancies that should never displace your will, your desire, and your passion to reach your dreams and goals. Because when you set out on that road, you are doing what you have always wanted to do. You do because you want. You never try because you want. Otherwise, you will never get there. Set up your mentality for doing, not trying. Go after your dream. Tackle those goals. Stop at nothing. You will soon understand that doing is the only thing that will bring you success. There is no trying. Not anymore!

This is your life. This is your time. You owe it to yourself to get the best from you possible.

Your best self is waiting to be discovered. You have one amazing life so make it the best life possible!

It’s time to ignite!