TRY

 

According to the dictionary the word TRY means “To make an effort to do or accomplish something”.  So it generally sounds like a good thing, right?  You are making an effort even if you may not succeed.  The other side of the TRY coin is the word FAIL.  The word that starts that spiral into the land inhabited by Negative Nellie and Doubtful Debbie.  So let’s look at how this LITTLE word can effect the way we do things in our personal and business life.

“The word “try” actually means the exact opposite of doing.”  Thank you Alisha of Rockstar Mompreneurs for bringing that to my attention with a hard SMACK across the head.  TRY is a word that I use a lot.  This reality check was a true eye opener.  Who would have thought this small word would have a HUGE impact on our life.

Let’s be honest, I know that I have done this… When Belinda was growing up, the word “try” was usually my gentle way of saying NO.  I may have wanted to, planned to or even attempted but the end results was that it didn’t happen. BUT I TRIED!  Belinda may have been disappointed but as long as she thought that I made an effort to do whatever it was – all was good.  Of course, it wasn’t often that trying lead to failing but there were those times.

How about this one: You get an invitation to an event (or party) and you aren’t thrilled about going.  Maybe you want to but you have a million other things to do.  Nothing to wear.  Won’t know anyone. Too cold, too hot.  Have you been there?  I know that I have.  So, instead of saying NO, we say “I’ll try” which equals out to a maybe. The host knows that it is probably your gentle way of saying NO without hurting their feelings.  She may hold out a glimmer of hope that you will attend but “try” let her know not to count on you.

So, now let’s look at your business.

You have set a goal. Or you company has an incentive.  You are pumped and ready to take action, right?  You start making calls and talking to people. With each NO,  a little air leaks out of your bubble.  You have now gone from “I WILL” to “I am trying”.  You miss making calls for a few days.  In your head you are still trying but the truth is we really aren’t giving it our BEST.  We give the illusion that we are doing our best.  We may talk a good game.  We may make minimal effort.  So when we haven’t reached our goal or achieved that incentive that we wanted to badly, we say “We tried”. Then we come up with a million reasons why it didn’t happen.

What if we were to remove the word TRY from our vocabulary.  Never use it again.  Could you do it?  I know it is a challenge for me.

What if we substituted in power words, words that set us up for success and let others know that they can depend on us?  Do you think that would change your business?

Substitute TRY with “I will do my best to..” or “I’ll do whatever it takes to..” or “I will be certain to…”. These statements instill self-confidence.  We start to trust other and they will trust us.

We set ourselves up for success!

Let’s try an experiment and see how many times in the course of a day or week, you said the word “try”.  Each time you do, STOP and change the wording to a power statement.  Share the results of you change in thinking with us.

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

#positivechange, #powerwords, #H.O.P.E.