Do. Or Do Not.

“Do. Or do not. There is no try.”

– Yoda

I have noticed a subtle and important difference in how people with little confidence in themselves use language compared with people who have confidence.

When faced with a task they have never done before, a less confident person often will say “I will try to do it” – with an emphasis on the word “try.” A confident person will say more definitively “I will do it.”

My experience is that the confident person stands a better chance of success.

Consider this example. Suppose someone asks you to go skydiving for the first time. You don’t want to “try” skydiving because simply “trying” suggests an option to fail at it, which would be disastrous. If you are asked to go skydiving, either do it or do not do it.

Consider tackling life’s challenges, large and small, with the same approach. Do. Or do not.