The subject of this week’s blog post is courtesy of @Blackyoga — a Twitter friend of mine. I issued a Twitter-wide request (to all my followers) for inspirational quotes that could be this week’s blog topic. @Blackyoga rocked it. And I admit, his quote is right up my alley. I’ve always had a problem with the concept of trying, wishing and hoping. Why? Because those words do not inspire action.
The truth is, trying inspires excuses. Wishing inspires daydreaming. Hoping inspires inaction. If you really think about it, you’ll begin to see how each of those words leave you without a plan — without a process — without a task to execute.
It’s interesting, because I was always raised — and trained as an athlete — to believe that if I “tried” to do my best, the outcome didn’t matter. And for most of my career, that made a lot of sense to me. I had very favorable results. I would try hard and, more times than not, I got the results I wanted. On the occasions when I didn’t get the results I wanted, I still took comfort in the fact that I’d “tried.” This seemed to be a great formula for success, and a great formula for dealing with failure (or at least second-best).
But then, something happened. I realized that every time I said the words, “I tried,” they were always followed by the word, “but…”
But.
It just feels like an excuse is coming, doesn’t it? Some feeble reasoning to explain why something didn’t get done. Some rationale to explain away why something didn’t happen.
A specific event caused me to see the “I tried, but…” pattern I’d created. I was a very successful athlete but, without even knowing it had happened, I’d gotten complacent.
When I was in college and competing for the University of Alabama, I was coasting through each season doing exactly what my coaches asked of me, winning lots of individual accolades and enjoying the benefits of competing on a national championship team in one of the greatest college towns in the country. Then, I re-injured my ankle (the same one I’d injured two weeks before 1988 Olympic Trials) in the middle of the competitive season during my junior year. My injury could not have come at a worse time — and the timing was ironic. It was two weeks before the Regional championship meet and four weeks before the NCAA national championship meet. I wanted desperately for my team to win both meets. After having my ankle professionally diagnosed as “severely sprained” (which can be worse than a fracture), I realized I had a choice to make. I could let my “severe sprain” define me and stay complacent…or not. There were certain things I could do to rehabilitate my ankle. But there was even more I could do to keep my mental game injury-free.
It was in that moment that I really understood the difference between “trying” and “doing.” It was in that moment that I really understood the NIKE slogan: Just Do It.
So, I did the things I knew to do:
- Pray for strength and guidance, and be grateful for my talent
- Follow my rehab/recovery instructions to the letter
- Concentrate on how I could be of service to my team — not to myself (focusing on others is a cure-all for complacency, by the way)
- Be the first one in and the last one out — every day
- Stop all the mental chatter and Just Do It
I’d love to tell you that I created some magic system — or invented a new way of overcoming injuries — but that’s not what happened. I was able to compete two events (the two events on which my team needed me most) at Regionals and all four events at NCAA’s because I CHOSE to. That’s it. I chose to deal with my injury (rather than to give in to it) and I chose to be a competitor — not an injured competitor. I chose not to let my injury define me. Instead, I chose to let my competitive nature — and my love for gymnastics — define me. But it all began with a conscious choice.
Whether or not you realize it, you are always choosing something.
It’s extremely important to be aware that you are choosing — every moment of every day of your life. Don’t sleepwalk through your choices. Stay awake. Stay alert. Stay present. Otherwise, if you’re not careful, you can find yourself stuck with a choice you didn’t think through. When this happens, many people have a tendency to blame others or their circumstances. They have a tendency to find fault with the results of their choices — rather than with the choices themselves.
No one is responsible for your choices but you. And ALL of life — every bit of it — is a choice. Be not mistaken: life will always include with it situations and circumstances. But you – and you alone — choose how you process them. You choose your attitude; regardless of life’s circumstances. You choose your next action; regardless of life’s circumstances. You choose how you are defined, and how the entire world sees you.
So, this week’s challenge is to be aware that hiding behind the notion that you’re “trying” is the same as not taking responsibility for your actions — the fact is, you are always taking action.
How conscious are you of what you choose to do? What do you choose? What DON’T you choose?
Wake up. Be present. Choose carefully… and powerfully.
Happy Stuck Landings,
Dee Dee
One Comment
Excellent blog and a very needed one as well! “Try” is such a weak word because it allows people to feel they have done their best when in fact, they’ve not even scratched the surface of their best. I always say to people “You can try or you can DO.”