"There is no 'try', there is just 'do'", I got this from a friend who in turn got it from Yoda. It sparked a little back and forth between us, not Yoda and I but between my friend and I. And although I get the idea of 'do' I can't discount that I don't entirely agree. I feel I need to explore this further as I do have more to say about it and don't want to end up loosing sight of my own opinion in a debate. Broken down to it's most simplistic form of what is meant by just 'do', I agree, it's about taking that first step towards success.
But...(there it is the ominous 'but')
In my opinion, to try does not equate automatically to failure nor is it a non-option as indicated by Yoda. It was pointed out to me 'do' intimates success because if you fail at doing something you are more likely to 'do' it again, not give up, not necessarily. Lets look at it this way. I believe that we learn from our failures, and learn not to 'do' it again, really what we do, is 'try' again. For example; say you marry an abusive man, I mean really abusive, one who gives you a daily beating because you didn't 'do' what you were told. OK, extreme example, but what if by the grace of God you are able to leave that relationship. Do you 'do' it again? You succeeded in attaining an abuser the first time, do you want to succeed again? OR, do you 'try' something new, 'try' finding a partner who will respect and support you? I suppose yes, doing does equal success but more so, I think we need to define what we want our success to be, long before we just 'do' it. And that's were 'try' comes in. Yoda's quote was laking at best.
I know the point being made is for the simplest form of doing, it is the mindset that you just do it, or at the very least, get started. However, what got you to the point were you can just do it? If someone tells you to 'do' without telling you to prepare first is setting you up for failure. Now, Yoda was encouraging Luke Skywalker to lift the spacecraft out of the bog, and after much 'try' he was told to just 'do'. But without trying and pushing yourself and making mistakes how can you just 'do'? If Luke were to walk up to the bog with the preprogrammed mindset that he could just do it before all the trying what lesson would he have learned? Well for one, he'd learn that he can lift a spacecraft with his mind, ok that's pretty big but would he become arrogant and self indulgent because he just knows he can just do it? Or, having tried, failed and tried again, has he learned humility and the knowledge that it takes more than arrogance to lift the spacecraft. It's much deeper than just do it and I think Yoda let him fail so he would learn exactly this.
Nike created the slogan "Just Do It" in reference to athletes getting out there and just doing it, whatever their 'it' is. Now not being an athlete, if I were to just do it, I'd probably hurt myself, but I might 'try' something easy. When kids don't want to eat their dinner because it's different than what they normally eat, do we tell them "just 'do' it" I suppose some parents would, or do we say, "just 'try' it, you don't know if you'll like it unless you 'try' it." Try is an integral part of growing up. Trial and error, experimenting, riding a bike, skateboarding for the first time, how do you know you can unless you ummmm 'just do it'? Or step on it and give it a 'try'? They are totally interchangeable depending on the situation and individual. We don't tell our kids "give it a do" that just sounds weird, besides they need to experience failure in order to gain knowledge and grow as individuals. We do however say "don't 'do' that, (negative) we don't necessarily say "don't 'try' that. Try, is the precursor to doing and inevitably to succeeding. Yes there is the "I tried and failed" but there is also, "Try, try again" until you 'do' it. IF you are meant to do it. Trying is a part of teaching and learning, doing is what happens after you have learned your lessons.
We are capable of doing anything we set our minds too and to figure out our capabilities we need to try different things, and do different things, sometimes even re-think our game plan and try a different approach. I don't think trying is akin to failing, I don't think doing is akin to success either, I think in the end it is the triumph that occurs that matters most. If you try something new, succeed and are able with ease to do it again and again, then you have your success! If you try something new, are unable to do it because it is beyond your capabilities, do you sit in your failure or do you try something different? When you go shopping do you 'try' on clothing to make sure it fits or do you just buy it and hope it fits? If you know your exact size then that probably works for you but what if you get it home, put it on and you don't like it after all, then your 'do' has failed. To 'do' is completely up to the individual, free will and all that. Sometimes jumping in with both feet is a dangerous prospect, you have to pick your 'do' carefully and thoughtfully.
What if Yoda was unsuccessful in convincing Luke he was capable of lifting the spacecraft? The thing is, Yoda knew Luke could do it, he knew Luke would not fail. How many of us have a Yoda telling us to 'do' not 'try'? There's the key, Luke had Yoda, he had his support, but more than that he had a crystal ball of sorts. If you had someone telling you without a shadow of a doubt that you could do it, that you would never fail, can we clone them for the rest of us? The fact is we don't have a Yoda, and we have a subconscious that tells us we can fail, but we don't give up and we try again, but maybe with a little less confidence. Can we still achieve success? Yes absolutely. But if we don't try we will never know, if we adopt the mentality of 'do' we have to ensure we are prepared and capable of 'do'.
I understand that trying, failing and giving up can deflate any ones sails. It can be a cop out as well, "well, I tried and I failed, so I don't have to try anymore" But what happens to our self esteem when we set out to 'do' and we fail? Do we say I tried or I did? Pretty much everything we set out to 'do' can turn into a 'try' when we don't succeed. Luke didn't sit back on his laurels once he got the ship out of the bog, his training continued. He had renewed self confidence but a long way to go before he could defeat Darth Vader. So although he tried, failed and tried to give up, he had Yoda telling him to 'do' it and he did it. What I'm saying is we shouldn't completely discount trying and we should definitely not stop doing either. Trying is key to doing and succeeding.
If you are faced with a situation were you are expected to accomplish something what do you do to facilitate the process to ensure you accomplish your goal? As part of my job I have the task of attaining software support renewals from our customers. Now this is not a mandatory renewal, we do have a pay per use option but our renewals are almost 100% profit for the company so we try to encourage our customers to renew every year. Now, year after year I have "tried" different software programs to help facilitate the renewal process and time and time again I have failed at finding the perfect program to assist with this. I haven't given up however because I do have an end goal and a mandate to reach it. So I continue trying different approaches and one of these days one will work. On the other hand, I can't just do it, because there are tools required to achieving success and just doing it will not facilitate the outcome I am striving for. So what you choose to do should be congruent to the goal you are attempting to attain and if that means 'trying' different approaches, so be it.
That's were I have a hard time accepting the 'just do it' mentality. I have worked in an office environment for over 21 years and I know hands down from experience 'just doing it' is the absolute wrong approach, businesses fail when they 'just do it' without proper due-diligence. When you are charged with a task, and there are consequences to your failure you will tread lightly, and try different approaches until you find the right one. In your personal life I can see this being different, say you want to loose 20 lbs, well trying to loose is way different than doing it. You can try different diets and fail every time, but it's that trial and error that teaches us what works for us. Had I not tried Weight Watchers 4 years ago I would never have lost the 30 lbs I set as my goal. However, I have since gained every last pound back. Now, armed with the knowledge that it worked in the past, I can 'just do it', I have the tools and training, I just need the drive and willingness to eat countless baby carrots to get started. Ummmm not right now.
There is nothing wrong with trying. There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing either. I think the difference is we try when we are unsure and we do when we are sure. And I challenge anyone reading this to deny ever having an unsure moment, but went ahead and 'tried' any way, successfully or not. Yoda was trying to encourage Luke to do what he knew Luke was capable of. Luke needed Yoda to tell him to 'do' because he was unsure of his abilities even after countless tries. Once we are sure, we are unstoppable but what is required to becoming unstoppable? Trying then doing.
I think an appropriate statement would be to 'never give up'. Never give up on your goals and dreams, never give up on trying and never give up on doing. It doesn't matter if you try or do, if you give up it's all for not. Let's remember, Yoda was a puppet and that line was written by a human. His choice of words were based on the character who would be imparting them, and Yoda talks backwards, so maybe we have taken this too literally and have abandoned trying because a rubber puppet told us to, lets not forget he did let Luke try until he wanted to give up, he didn't just tell him 'do' he let Luke experience failure.
Just do it, go do it, DO IT NOW! Don't bother preparing and gaining the knowledge through trial and error, just 'DO'. OK, what are you going to do? Are you prepared? Yes? Great, but your success is not guaranteed. No? Well that's OK just go do it anyway but again your success is not guaranteed. So, now, let me ask you this. If you had no idea how to preform surgery, and just did it, do you think you would be successful? No? Then why did you do it? What were you thinking? Why did they create flight simulators? Perhaps they were tired of loosing trainees and equipment because new pilots were not afforded the opportunity to try and see if they could, oh, fly a plane. If you are equipped and ready then, 'do', by all means, 'do' big! If not, then what? 'Do' anyway? Could be dangerous, or could be successful, there is no more of a guarantee with 'do', than with 'try', of being successful.
TRY + DO = SUCCESS. If you don't try you'll never know if you can do. If you do it without being prepared without your trial and error, will you fail, I don't know, I'm not Yoda. If you do it and you succeed, take a look back and count your tries, bet there is at least one ;-) Don't just 'do' it. Just 'DO' 'TRY' to not give up.
With much love, light, trial and error. (hey I'm not perfect.)
Tammy.
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