The Courage to Try.

I’m not even going to read this post after seeing that dirty three-letter word in the headline. Once you introduce the word “try” into the equation, you’ve already conceded failure. You are acknowledging that you might not be successful. You are allowing yourself to fail. If you are only going to try again, you can bet you will not succeed tomorrow either. This has nothing to do with fist pumping, false bravado, or harsh words. This has to do with the conviction that you will be successful when you do something. That doesn’t mean that you may not have to find another way to reach your goal, but it does not leave any room for failure as the the word “try” does.

I did an experiment this morning at my 6:30 am Triathlon spin class. After warming up to the point where there was already a little puddle of sweat under my bike, we got into the real work of the class, a series of 18 intervals w/ a 3-minute recovery after the first 12. At one point, I was doing really great, feeling really great, riding strong, and feeling happy, thinking about the effort Olympians and pro cyclists invest in their sports. Then, I let a couple of less than positive memories enter my consciousness. Instantly, it was harder to pedal and I wanted to ease up on the tension, slow my cadence. I realized what I was doing to myself and recognizing how these thoughts got in the way of my performance earlier in the summer. As soon as I consciously shifted my thinking back to successful models, the workout once again became joyous, the pedals spun a little faster, the tension didn’t feel so heavy and I finished an ass-kicking 60-minute workout with a smile even though I was panting for breath, my heart-rate monitor was red-lining, and there were two puddles of sweat on the floor under the bike.

I contend that courage is truly, deeply believing you will accomplish whatever you’ve set yourself to do and absolutely not allowing the tiniest doubt.

There is no try. There is only do. –Yoda

Hello,

It is very nice to come here. It is a perfect forum

Life is but thought.