New Rule for 2009: Remove “Try” From Your Vocabulary

At the beginning of each year, I like to create different goals for myself to accomplish. 

I had a few goals I set for myself at the beginning of this year, some of which actually got accomplished.  Get at least ONE song on radio?  Did it! (Perhaps you’ve heard the “Obama Milli” remix at your local radio station?) Save up money to move to California? Did it! (I move on January 9th!)

As I was thinking about what goals I want to accomplish for 2009, it dawned on me that I was able to complete the goals I had set for myself this year because I had a “this thing I want MUST get done” thought behind them.  I didn’t think, “Gee, I might want to do this,” or “Well, maybe it might be a good idea to do such-and-such.”  I just worked hard and made it happen.

In short, I followed the mantra of Yoda: “Do or do not. There is no ‘try.’”

I’ve thought about that phrase alot lately, and realised that Yoda was absolutely right.  People get things done as a result of making a conscious effort to actually DO something, and seeing it through until it has either been accomplished or progressed upon aggressively.  None of these people set out to “try,” they set out to “do.”

You might be thinking: “But Aaron, don’t I have to TRY something in order to make progress towards DOING it?”

Technically, yes – but there’s a difference between going into something saying you’re going to “try” it, as opposed to going into something and saying you’ll “do” it.

For example: let’s say you want to be a swimmer.  You decide you want to “try” your hand at it and see what happenes.  You take a few lessons at your local YMCA and, after not being able to get the strokes down right away, decide that swimming just isn’t for you.  “Oh well,” you think to yourself, “at least I tried!”

But suppose you went into the whole swimming thing with a different attitude.  You decide you’re going to become a GREAT swimmer, no matter how much effort it takes.  You take a few lessons at your local YMCA and, again, aren’t able to get the strokes down right away.  You think about quitting, but you stop and remember the promise you made to yourself: to be a GREAT swimmer, NO MATTER WHAT.  It’s what you told yourself you’d DO – not “try,” but DO.

And the result?  You learn how to swim.  You pass your swimming classes with flying colors.  And – who knows – you might even end up winning 8 gold Olympic medals like Michael Phelps!  But you never would have even become good at doing a freestyle stroke had you just simply decided to “try.”

“Do or do not.  There is no ‘try.’”

Imagine if Michael Jordon had just “tried” to play basketball – he wouldn’t have been nearly as good as he was because he wouldn’t have practiced 3 times harder than his rivals or team mates.  Imagine if Michael Jackson had just “tried” to be a dancer – he wouldn’t have gone out of his way to practice for HOURS at a time, and become one of the most well-known dancers of our generation.

“Do or do not. There is no ‘try.’”

Another bad thing about the word “try?”  It’s an easy way out.  It’s a word people use when they want to be successful at something, but are afraid of looking stupid in front of others if they fall on their face.    They figure, “if I just say I’m trying to do something instead of telling others I’m going to actually do it, they won’t laugh at me or put me down if I’m not able to accomplish what I want.”

Removing the word “try” from your vocabularly makes you instantly responsible for living up to your own expectations, regardless of what other people might think.  Even if people think your goal/dream is impossible, they will ultimately have more respect for you if you go as hard as you can towards reaching it, instead of doing it half-heartedly, not really caring whether or not you actually acheive it so long as you “tried.”

“Do or do not. There is no ‘try.’”

Think back on all the things you’ve done up to this point in your life that you consider to be “accomplishments.”  Were you the head of your basketball team? Perhaps you were the Valedictorian of one of your educational institutions?  Maybe you were employee of the month at your job? In any case, these big accomplishments were probably the result of you making a focused effort to do whatever it took to reach that goal.  It was definitely NOT the result of you saying, “eh, I guess I’ll try it…”

So, for 2009, my tip for anyone who wants to be a big, Big, BIG success at whatever it is they have their heart set on doing is…

“Do or do not.  There is no ‘try.’”

Have a happy new year – now, go out there and BE successful!

-Aaron P. Taylor