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Articles Choose to Do or Not Do

Choose to Do or Not Do

How often do you hear or say, “I’ll try”? And what does this mean? Sometimes the word “try” is used to mean “I really don’t want to do what you have asked, and I don’t know how to say no to you,” or “I don’t have sufficient confidence in myself to make a full commitment to getting this done,” or “I don’t know what I really want in life.”

When I hear people express their dreams or outcomes with the word try, I usually ask myself, “How serious is this person about achieving their dreams?” What messages are they sending to their unconscious mind? I see this as having one foot on the playing field and the other foot in the stands and hoping to score a touchdown. Highly unlikely! Trying is a waste of energy. Other equally noncommittal words that we use are want, hope and wish.

“Try? There is no try. There is only do or not do.”

- Yoda, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Take a moment to review your “to do” list – the one you keep in your head or the one that you actually write down. Do you find the sheer number of items on your list overwhelming and demotivating? How many of the items fall under the category, “I will try to get this done”? What do you think is possible and how would you feel if, right now, you followed Yoda’s advice and identified those that you are clearly prepared to do (and have the time and resources to do so), while removing the others from the list?

For each of your dreams, identify clearly what it is you want; define it in measurable terms with time frames and commit to doing it.

This article is based on Roger’s book Live Your Dreams Let Reality Catch Up: NLP and Common Sense for Coaches, Managers and You , which you can buy from Amazon.com.

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