Of late, I’ve begun on a new experiment thanks to Yoda. And that’s removing try from my language.
Like many things he nailed, I find Yoda nailed the use of try too. When I tested myself on the use of try, I realized I used try primarily when I wanted to say No. And, in a few instances, I used try because I didn’t fully believe I could do, and hence, was creating an excuse. And sometimes, even setting myself up for failure.
The past month has been a journey in removing try from my language. I caught myself doing that on email twice yesterday and decided to either decide to do, or not.
I do not underestimate the difficulty of a task like this anymore though. I realize that I’m working against years of mental conditioning. And I also appreciate (now more than ever) that the basics are the hardest to get right. Besides, I also realize that this is directly related to our Integrity.
Integrity is one of those commonly used value words which is hardly ever understood. I don’t claim to fully understand it myself. The best definition I’ve found on integrity is one that Covey uses – ‘The ability to make and keep commitments.’ And that, as we all know, is extremely difficult.
There is a post somewhere in this discussion on ‘Developing Integrity’ – Yes, I do not believe integrity is intrinsic, I fully believe it is a habit.
That said, I do believe that removing try is a great first step to higher integrity. When you can’t or don’t want to do something, take the difficult step and just say No. And when you can, you simply have to believe, and then get it done.
A Learning a Day 