One thing we have all been taught since childhood is to try, try, and try again. Whenever we face a difficult obstacle, or if we discover something new, we “give it try.” Sure, this appears to be a solid mentality to have. However, in reality, it prevents success.
We need to start instigating into future generations, and ourselves, the idea of not trying, but doing. If we tackled everything we attempt with “I’m going to do” instead of “I’m going to try,” we would be amazed with how much success we could achieve.
Trying invokes hesitancy while doing commands commitment. This begins with emotionally attaching yourself to something.
Creating higher stakes and developing more confidence in yourself will automatically enhance your capability of actually doing and achieving, rather than trying and potentially succeeding. You will begin to start diving headfirst into everything you do and end up surprising yourself.
We live in a world where we must constantly being thinking about everything we say and do. The human brain cannot focus on more than one thing at a time, so by focusing attention on doing exactly what we set out to do makes it easier to achieve it. When “trying,” our brains focus on fear of failure, worry about what others think, and so forth. With everything going on inside our head, there is no way we can actually focus enough on the task at hand to succeed.
Allowing failure to be an option poses a critical danger in the trying mentality. It is okay to fail sometimes, because hopefully you learn from the experience, but if you ultimately cannot imagine yourself succeeding then you won’t. You need to actually visualize yourself doing, but with trying, failure is always there as an option.
The most damaging consequence of “trying” affects your brain. Trying brings an element of passivity, which ultimately prevents people from advancing in anything they attempt. Someone can “try” to have a healthy diet, but as soon as it becomes increasingly difficult and more complex, they give up. They’re one week in and all of a sudden get very busy with work or whatever else and decide they just need a quick dinner, so they go through a drive-thru.
Doing conveys action and with action you complete something. Trying leaves room for failure, which goes hand in hand with passivity. Passivity comes from not having high enough stakes and if stakes aren’t high, you probably aren’t confident in your own ability to succeed, ultimately resulting in failure.
The mentality of trying is a dangerous virus that has infiltrated western culture. Western civilization may have had the most success and advancement in the shortest amount of time, but many great western civilizations have declined quickly and will continue to do so.
Trying brings about “comfort and ever-increasing leisure. No dynamic people have ever survived these dangers.” (John Steinbeck) We must begin to “do” more and “try” less if we want to continue to be a great nation. As Yoda once said, “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”
