There is No Try, Only Do

We often think of failure as the inability to accomplish a certain objective. We give it our best shot and the results are less than favorable. We’ve failed.
Ah, but does that have to be the end of the story? No! We can consider it a failure ONLY if we stop trying after we experience the less than favorable result.
If we keep working at it, we might turn a “failure” into a success!
Do yourself a favor and change your definition of failure right now. Here is your new definition of failure:
Not having a plan, not working a plan, and giving up too soon.
Think of any great achievement in history, and you can be certain that the achiever had to attempt it more than once – sometimes hundreds of times!
If you’ve “failed” at anything in the past, be honest with yourself: how many times did you try? Did you give it a halfhearted effort and then give up when it seemed too hard? Did you let yourself become intimidated by challenges, or disempowered by negative comments from friends and colleagues?
Though you may believe that it was out of your hands, it’s important to understand something:
You made a choice to fail.
You gave up. You stopped trying. It doesn’t matter what the reasons were, even though they may have seemed perfectly logical at the time. The fact is, you allowed external conditions to erode your motivation and determination, and you threw in the towel.
You may resist this idea because let’s face it; it’s not a comfortable thing to hear. But this painful little insight comes with some good news!
If you made the choice to fail, you can also make the choice to succeed.
Whether you decide to pick up an old dream and dust it off or choose an exciting new path to travel, the outcome is within your control!
With the right attitude, focused action steps and a solemn vow to never give up, success will be yours.
Don’t approach your goals with an attitude of “try,” only an attitude of DO! That little gem by the fictional character of Yoda actually holds a tremendous amount of wisdom.
Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity.
– Louis Pasteur
“Trying” means you are not going to give it your all. It means you will keep going until the going gets too tough. It means you are giving yourself an out in case you grow weary of the battle. It means you are giving yourself permission to surrender to mediocrity.
“Doing” means that failure is not an option. It means that you vow to give every ounce of blood, sweat and tears you have available because you believe in your dreams that much. It means that you cannot and will not accept defeat because the stakes are too high. It means that you are willing to work as long and as hard as necessary to achieve the outcome you desire, even if it takes years.
This is your life and you must decide that there is no going back, no giving up, no giving in – NO MATTER WHAT!