How many times have you heard yourself or other people make the following statement?

“I’ll try.”

I'll bet you've heard it a lot.

Well, what’s wrong with that? After all, from an early age you’ve been told. "Whatever you do…always try hard.”

The act of trying may actually be counterproductive. Trying is not doing.

What price do you pay in your business and in your life for trying rather than doing?

The following exercise should clarify this abstract concept.

Ready? Place your pen or pencil on the table or desk in front of you. Now… try to pick it up.

Did you pick up your writing utensil?

If you did, I have one thing to say, “You didn’t follow the instructions.”

You weren’t asked to pick up your pen or pencil… you were asked to TRY and pick it up.

Trying will rarely produce your desired result.

How often have you said to yourself… or others… "I really want to accomplish my short and/or long term goals?" How many times have you followed that statement with, "and this time I’m really going to try?"

You can probably remember a project, a task, or even a New Year’s resolution that was left incomplete, about which you can sincerely say, “Well, I tried.”

You had every intention to complete the task. You remember trying to accomplish what you’d intended. You remember the task being left unfinished.

“Trying” dilutes intention.

The more you want to or try to accomplish a task, the more challenging the completion of that task becomes.

In Episode V of the Star Wars saga there is line of dialogue delivered by the character of the Jedi mentor, Yoda. Yoda gives a set of instructions to his pupil, Luke Skywalker.

Luke responds to Yoda’s instructions with the words, “I’ll try.”

Yoda counters quietly, and with conviction. He says, “Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try.”

I urge you to adopt this cinematic saying. Keep it close to you at all times. Make it a part of your daily action plan. Write it out. Paste it on the wall.

We all want to do the right things. We all try to do the right things. However, the mindsets of wanting and trying come with a cost.

That cost is best summed up in this excerpt from the first in a series of books entitled “Conversations with God” by Neale Donald Walsch. Walsch’s literary depiction of God shares these words, “You can not have that for which you ask. Nor can you have anything you want. The very request is a statement of lack and your saying you want produces only want in your reality.”

Here’s your success tip. Remove statements that include the words “try” and “want” from your personal vocabulary.

Those who follow my work know about the “Secret Language of Success”™. This secret language does not include the statement “I’ll try.” Focus on action oriented statements like, “I’ll do the task”, or “I’ll complete the task.”

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