Are you a Tryer?

How many times have you said, "I will try my best!"  Or, "I’ll try!"

You’ve probably said it quite a few times.

What’s wrong with this? After all, if you are not confident you can achieve or deliver the result, why would you promise it?

The first point is: if you say you will try, you’re not making a commitment and you can let yourself off. 

Unfortunately, the person you are telling will, through their selective hearing, hear, "I will do it." There is a real opportunity for a major misunderstanding. If it is your boss, his/her talk about you will be negative.  ‘Not reliable’, ‘Can’t count on this person’, ‘Not a team player’.

If it’s someone you love and you don’t deliver, try will not be good enough.

I will leave it to your imagination about the kind of talk going on in their head.

‘Try’ is a mindtrap.  It’s the way the brain has cleverly wired itself to avoid not making a full commitment.  It invariably becomes an automatic behavior. There is ‘no try’ - either you do it, or you do not. If you cannot make a commitment, then a simple honest answer will be muchly preferred. 

I encourage you to make a strong effort to avoid using the word try.  Awareness is an important key. 

We don’t use the word 'try' in our company.  It is amazing how we have all developed a strong trust in each other.