Do, or do not. There is no ‘try.’
Jedi Master Yoda
I never thought I’d open a blog post by quoting a short green alien. Yet wiser words have seldom been spoken. Whether in business or your personal endeavors, following Master Yoda’s wisdom will change your life and your business.
‘Try’ is little more than a cop out.
Wanna limit your responsibility and waffle on a commitment? Use the ‘try’ word.
- I’ll ‘try’ to get that done. (But if I don’t finish at least I tried.)
- I’ll “try’ to make the deadline.(When I miss it you can’t be mad, I tried.)
- I’ll ‘try’ to change my behavior. (I may not, but I’ll tell you I’m trying to buy time.)
We’ve become a society that rewards ‘trying’ as if it was an accomplishment. We’re even training the next generation that ‘trying ‘ is what matters – we give them awards for simply showing up (and even doing a poor job) because they ‘tried’.
Since when is ‘trying’ an accomplishment?
Before you get all bent out of shape – yes, there are times that trying is the ultimate accomplishment. When people ‘try’ to move beyond physical, mental, spiritual or other limitations – it is an accomplishment! YEAH for them. That’s not what I’m talking about.
I’m talking about our increasing belief that simply attempting a task is good enough. What if a doctor took that tact with your surgery? ‘That’s a different situation’ you cry. WHY? Isn’t your responsibility to your business or personal commitments just as important?
‘Try’ avoids a commitment to success.
We’ll try to finish the product on time, try to help the customer fix the problem, try to complete our job responsibilities. Try to be good honest people. And if we don’t, well. we tried. But that little difficulty got in our way, that other project sounded more fun so we focused on to it, the dog ate our homework and our computer broke down and we fell asleep instead of finishing that important assignment. BAH!
Commitments have become something we keep if they are convenient for us. We’ll try – but do we feel anything close to failure if we don’t deliver on that commitment? I wonder.
We are Better than this!
I believe that my word is my bond, that when I make a commitment it’s my responsibility to do everything in my power to meet that commitment. If that means working late hours or cutting into my weekend to complete that commitment – then so be it. I deliver quality, on time and as promised. BTW, I’m not holding myself as the bastion of responsibility – heaven knows there are many times when I wish I WASN’T so demanding of myself. There is a happy middle ground I’ve been told:)
My point is that many of us were raised with the same definition of commitment. There was no ‘try’ in my house – and probably not in yours. Yoda ruled supreme. We were happy, felt a sense of accomplishment and others trusted us on our word. Contracts were completed by a handshake and, in my humble opinion, life was better for it.
Say Goodbye to ‘I’ll try’. Forever.
We can do it. All we have to do is change our thinking, and our beliefs around commitment. The next time someone ask us for a commitment that we agree with, there’s one simple answer that can clear up the ‘try’ problem for good.
‘I WILL’
7 Comments
Bob Burg
September 30, 2009 - 7:19 amExcellent. Right on, my friend!!
Heather O'Sullivan
September 30, 2009 - 7:26 amGreat post as always Rebel!I was just thinking about Yoda! How funny! AND Ironically my friends and I JUST had a “conversation” (or would you call it a “comment-sation?”) about this very thing – the word “try” on Facebook!Great minds think alike:)
Brian Makas
September 30, 2009 - 9:55 amAgreed and simply can’t (no irony intended from the prior post) be said enough
Jim Seybert
September 30, 2009 - 9:59 amGood stuff Rebel – I’ll try to remember it.
Hah.
There are times when I’m not certain something will work, or whether I’ll hit a deadline due to changes or situations beyond my control. In these times I find it helpful to explain what is being done. As in, “These changes will make hitting the initial deadline difficult and here is what we’re doing to mitigate that possibility . . . “
That seems to be more honest than “we’ll try” and seems to be more acceptable to the person in charge.
Rebel Brown
September 30, 2009 - 10:44 amHey you two!
Great minds do think alike and since we’re all great minds (ahem:)) we must be in sync! I was out horse camping last week and as I was riding one day I was thinking about voices and beliefs that keep us stuck. Then the thought came that the words we use also have the same kinda impact on us. Hence – the series of blogs on nasty little words that hold us back or set us up. The TRY one is my fave – mainly cause I got to use YODA!!! Thanks for stopping by and check back from more word rants coming soon!
Keep Smilin’!
reb
Rebel Brown
September 30, 2009 - 10:46 amHey Jim
Thanks for stopping by! YOU NAILED it my friend. The key is to tell the truth and qualify the commitment so that what you agree is what you can do.
People totally accept that. AND it builds trust along the way.
So much better than the cop out of “trying”.
Keep smilin’
reb
Rebel Brown
September 30, 2009 - 10:48 amI’m groanin’ Brian:)
THX for stopping by and sharing!
Just goes to show that there are POSITIVE ways to use the nasty little words too!
Keep smilin’
reb