You may not have put together a thumbnail sketch of your life yet, but when you do, what you tried will be on the cutting room floor.

If I want to annoy myself, it’s easy. All I have to do is react to hearing myself or someone else say: “I tried that.” In my experience, in 99% of the cases that phrase translates to, “I didn’t stick with that.”

 

The notable exception that doesn’t upset me is: “I tried New Tide.”

 

In the overwhelming majority of the cases, if you had stuck with the thing you tried, you would have gotten the results you were after.

 

Just listen to the everyday examples we all use. “I tried to save money.” “I tried Weight Watchers.” “I tried to stop (fill in your trying verb).”

 

We are not a culture of stickers. Stick-to-itiveness is a habit we don’t stick with and we always get stuck with the bill. We pay for our lack of sustained effort and we attempt to assuage that pain by assuring ourselves that we tried.

 

Here’s a secret no one else will tell you: When you offer up your list of tries, no one is listening, not even your therapist.

 

I’m not going to “Go Yoda” on you here; I just want to point out that trying has to be removed from your list of accomplishments because that list doesn’t impress anyone.

 

The next time you catch yourself about to say or write, “I tried that,” have the courage to say, “I didn’t stick with that.” Saying that instantly accomplishes two things:

 

 

We have to participate in our own success.  That requires sustained effort on our part. If you continue to ignore this universal truth, you will have a trying existence.

 

All the best,

John