There is no try.

Who can forget this timeless scene of Yoda teaching a young Luke Skywalker in Star Wars?

How many times have we been like Luke half-heartedly saying, “I’ll give that a try?” Yoda is not suggesting every attempt will be met with success. He’s imparting to Luke that you cannot win with a mindset that starts with “I’ll try.”

Think about times you say, “I’ll try.” Are you really bought in and all in when you say it? Or, are you really leaving yourself fudge room to back out or simply placating the person you’re talking to?

At the end of your life, your scorecard will not have a Tried column. It will be made up of those things you did and those things you did not do. As Yoda says, “Do or not do. There is no try.”

The great motivational teacher Tony Robbins has changed the lives of people the world over. One of his best quotes is, “A real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken a new action. If there’s no action, you haven’t truly decided.”

It’s an unequivocal fact. More dreams die from inaction or “I’ll try” energy than from failure by someone who went after them with massive action. Is it still possible to fail? Sure. Life is not a box guarantees.

Here’s a couple of affirmations I wrote years ago for this:

• I refuse to allow my dreams to die on the sword of inaction.
• When I commit to a dream, I’m all in!

So, what’s the take-away? We must act and we must act with the right mindset. If our mindset is not “all in” our action will not be enough and we may even fail to take the action at all.

Young Skywalker, your dreams are yours. Don’t give up on them before you even begin.

Ray

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