Leaders, Stop Saying This Now

Okay, today we may step on some toes (including mine) but sometimes we need to be a little uncomfortable in order to reach our full potential.  We will certainly never reach our full potential if we don’t get out of our comfort zones, so we should expect and want to be uncomfortable fairly frequently.  Comfortable is good, but uncomfortable is great and certainly more fulfilling. When we say “I’m trying” or “I’m doing my best,” it signals that we are comfortable with our level of effort.  We are working in our comfort zone and that’s not going to push us toward our full potential or our task at hand.  This is simply a convenient way to deflect from the fact we are not making sufficient progress.  It certainly doesn’t convey that we are doing everything we possibly can.  Saying “I’m trying” is not the same as, “I have had some challenges, but I will get this done.”  “I’m doing my best” is not the same as saying “I will get this done. You can count on me.”  Do you hear “You can count on me” when someone says, “I’m trying”?  Most of the time when I start singing, “I’m trying,” I’m failing, and I don’t plan on extending a lot more effort to find a better way to get it done.  It’s sad, but true.

This is not to say we don’t need help sometimes or that we are never going to fail on some big goals, but we are always going to come up short when we resort to “I’m trying” or “I’m doing my best.”  Words are powerful, choose them wisely. 

If we use a “Can Do” attitude, we will be uncomfortable, but we will accomplish a whole lot more. I didn’t want to write this blog because it made me uncomfortable, but I did it and now I hope that it helps you in your journey to reach your full potential. Having a “Can Do” attitude could be the difference between success and failure in business and life.