Trying vs. Doing: Choose Your Verb
I heard the titled phrase from an acquaintance who happens to also be a teacher. It struck me as an easy “go to” phrase to keep tucked away and ready to pull out when you need a little motivation.
How you treat yourself and what you say to yourself makes a titanic impact on your productivity in both your personal and professional life. Check it out: Take the example of being at work and your boss asks you to perform a task. She wants to hear you respond that you will “do” the task rather than simply “try” to get it done.
It’s the same when it comes to getting any personal goal accomplished. Self-talk and the words you choose makes a big difference in your overall perspective. It reminds me of a few episodes I’ve seen on “My 600 Ib. Life.” There is always one patient who will say they are “trying” to stand up and get out of bed. Then there are those that just do it. Even after gastric bypass surgery, Dr. Nowzaradan will make every attempt to motivate that challenging patient to “do” rather than just “try.” But, their bad eating habits continue. Some refuse to try to even stand up and walk, claiming they “can’t,” although the doctor knows they can because he’s worked on numerous patients that have done it.
Not everyone likes that show because they might find it a little depressing and, honestly, gross. But, I love the show because I can understand what it’s like to want to escape. Many people numb themselves and use a variety of things to do so, not just alcohol or drugs, but technology, the Internet, video games, watching too much TV, sex, over-exercising, and even overindulgence on healthy foods. Yes, the latter is an actual thing. Orthorexia Nervosa is an obsession with eating healthy.
You get where I’m going with this. Too much of anything can be a bad thing. The important thing to remember is that when you want to kick a bad habit or reach a goal, you have to just “do” rather than simply “try.”
The Bottom Line:
We can make a million excuses and even blame other people or circumstances or even our upbringing. But ultimately the onus is on us. Taking personal responsibility is the first step in being a doer versus being someone who says they’re “trying,” only to continue to repeat past mistakes. When you simply “try,” you end up taking one step forward and three steps back.
If you do fall, get back up and don’t give in. But, let’s look ourselves in the mirror today and ask one question: Which verb will I choose? Will I choose to “try” or “do?”
Maybe Nike is right: We should, “Just Do It!”
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Writing With Hope 
March 15, 2017 at 7:37 AM
I have chosen to do, not try. Interesting post.
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March 15, 2017 at 10:25 AM
Thank you for commenting, I know it isn’t easy. We tend to get in our own way. 🙂
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March 15, 2017 at 11:45 AM
🙂 Yes! We need to do things ethically and sanely!… otherwise, it’s just reacting.
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March 15, 2017 at 12:10 PM
I totally agree, our actions are often indicators of our effort.
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March 15, 2017 at 11:50 AM
It seems so simple, “Just Do It,” as Nike commanded us. But it seldom is that easy, at least for me. I think it takes daily effort to remind ourselves to “go for it” but even then within reason. My issue is I’m rather risk averse, partly a construct of my profession, so I second-guess a lot. Not always a bad thing, and sometimes it is a very good one. But the point here is we need to take more chances to realize our dreams. It’s the whole “Fail to Succeed” premise.
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March 15, 2017 at 12:15 PM
Indeed, in certain situations we do have to proceed with caution. In other instances where procrastination might set in, we have to just start and do. 🙂
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March 15, 2017 at 3:00 PM
Great article Sonyo. My big excuse has always been ‘after…’, like after the holidays, or on Monday, like after the weekend. I like how you pointed out choosing a verb.
I had no idea that there was such a thing as overindulgence on healthy foods. I told my hubby about that and he told me about something he’d watched that spoke about that. People getting so caught up with healthy eating that they stop enjoying life and taking advantage of their moments. Hmmmmm…
Hope you’re having a great day.
🙂
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March 15, 2017 at 3:37 PM
Staci, I didn’t know either until I looked it up. 🙂 I know some people that are obsessed with eating healthy. But, I guess if I had to choose one addiction…healthy eating would be my pick. 🙂 These days, I try to refrain from being addicted to anything other than balance.
Hope you have a great day as well!!! 🙂
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March 20, 2017 at 12:24 PM
Oh yes, I hear you there. The one thing that humanity has such a difficult time achieving, “balance”. Good for you.
🙂 ❤
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March 15, 2017 at 7:41 PM
You know something, I used to say I WILL TRY but that is telling my brain only to try and not to do. SO now what I do is; I tell you if I can or can’t. Marvelous post by the way. Stay awesome
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March 16, 2017 at 6:38 AM
So beautifully written and inspiring and so true. The quote was the truthfulness.👍👍👍👍👍
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March 16, 2017 at 1:35 PM
Thank you so much for that wonderful comment! 🙂
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March 16, 2017 at 8:45 PM
Welcome Sonyo
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March 16, 2017 at 4:37 PM
You’re absolutely right. You have to set yourself up for success, and if you don’t make it today, consider what you’ve learned to better yourself for tomorrow.
And I wanted to let you know I nominated you for the Lovely Blog Award. Please feel free to accept/play along if you have time. If not, no worries at all. 🙂
Here’s the link: https://leadership2mommyship.com/2017/03/14/one-lovely-blog-award-thank-you/
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March 17, 2017 at 7:31 AM
Reblogged this on HarsH ReaLiTy and commented:
Just do it! A good message for today. 🙂
Note: Comments disabled here. Please visit their blog.
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March 18, 2017 at 5:17 PM
Great post. That’s what I tell my husband – just do it. He’s such a procrastinator. He has a tee shirt that says – just do it later. You have to step up and take control of your life.
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March 18, 2017 at 10:02 PM
I totally agree with you! It’s easy to put things off, but for me it only increases the anxiety. Just rather get it done! 😀
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April 13, 2017 at 6:20 PM
This gave me a knowing smile. In a letter yesterday to a prison inmate who is the subject of one of my blogs -My name is Jamie – I wrote about the exact same thing about the types of people in my life and why they resent me. I don’t “try” to do things. Trying is the excuse you give for when you fail – which you invariably will do. Trying to lose weight, trying to change your eating habits because you have diabetes. Either you do our you don’t -period. One of my favorite sayings I’ve told about a zillion people, “There are those people who make things happen and those who watch things happen and those who say, “What happened??” Which one are you?” Why do people in my life resent me? Because I have the audacity to put myself in the number one spot in my life before considering how they feel about it. Which leads me to my second favorite saying, ” If you don’t like what I’m doing, don’t watch me do it!”
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April 13, 2017 at 7:34 PM
You said it so well and summed up my point perfectly! ❤
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