Stop Trying and Start Doing

Adapted from the book, The Ten Year Career: The Fast Track Guide to Retiring Young, Wealthy, and Fulfilled

How many time a week do you say or hear others say, "I'm trying to..." or "I'm going to try to.." or some version of those phrases?

In order to get where you want to go, you must take action and you must do what is necessary to get you there.  If you think about it, we don't really "try" anything -- We either do it or we don't.  For example, if you were told to "try" and drive a car, what would you do?  Would you get in, start it up, and get on the road? Probably.  But remember, you weren't told to drive the car.  You were told to "try" and drive it, right?

While the above example is a little over-exaggerated, it makes the point.  You cannot "try" to drive the car - you either will drive it or you won't.

This littlest things can be the most powerful differences.  A lot of people, use the fact that they will "try" to do something as a way to emotionally satisfy an obligation or make themselves feel like they are making progress while in truth, the only way you truly progress is to take action and "do."  

If you want to reach new levels of success in your life, you must become conscious to and strive to eliminate the use of the word "try" from your vocabulary.  It is too ambiguous and leaves you with a way out.  Think about the difference between telling someone, "I will try to get it done in next week" vs.
"I will get it done next week."  Doing forces you to commit and uphold your word, whether to yourself or to those you gave it to.  THAT IS HUGE DIFFERENCE and one that separates the high achiever.

Here is an exercise to help foster this change in your life and your results.  For the next week, take inventory of all the times you say that you "will try to do something" or "try something."  Also, listen for it from others.  Mark down, each time you say or hear it and then revisit your list at the end of the week to see if any of the things you were going to try or were told someone would try to do, are actually done. Predictably, a few things will happen.  The things you catch yourself saying "try" on will most likely get done, because you will be aware and change your thought pattern to "do" them (so you don't look bad at the end of the week!). But the outside "trys" you heard from a lot of people will not be done.  Once you do this for a week, you will never go back to using the word "try."  Your mind will just not let you and you will find that you will start to achieve more and accomplish more in your life.  

Now comes the important part - Don't try to do this exercise, commit to doing it for a week!  For those that DO, drop me a note at dave@misfitentrepreneur.com.  It would be great to hear from you and how this simple change of thinking made a difference in your life.

Resolve to eliminate the world try from your vocabulary and start deliberately DOING!