Happy Sacred Sunday!
I remember telling my dad I was “trying” to do something once. He had a unique way of teaching me a lesson. He pulled out a dollar from his wallet, dropped it on the floor, and said, “Try to pick up the dollar.”
Confused, I picked it up, wondering where this was going. He then told me, “Caroline, you either do something or you don’t. There’s no ‘trying.’” This lesson stuck with me because “trying” often feels like a cover for not actually doing anything.
For example, you might say,
“I’m trying to be more consistent working out.”
This most likely means you’re thinking that if you go to the gym 3 times a week for 6 months, that would make you more consistent than you have been thus far.
Since the six months haven’t passed, that in-between phase is what you call TRYING. As time progresses, you will either go to the gym 3 times a week for those 6 months, or you won’t.
But life’s not always so straightforward, especially with goals that require ongoing effort without guaranteed success.
For example. Let’s say you have a goal to become a NY Times bestseller. You can do many things toward this goal:
Write a book.
Get an agent.
Market the book.
Hire a public relations firm.
Go on a book tour.
And you may still not land on the NY Times bestseller list.
So, what do you call the space between trying and doing, especially for outcomes that are beyond your control?
My friend Katie offered an enlightening perspective about parenting by analogizing it to how yogis approach their discipline. They don’t say they “do yoga”; they “practice yoga.” This idea made sense to me.
Yoga as a practice demands continuous learning, personal development, and growth. As practitioners progress, they discover new possibilities within their poses, breathing techniques, and meditation practices. Yoga is not about mastering a finite set of skills, rather about embarking on a lifelong journey to strengthen one’s self.
Practice implies action, an ongoing effort towards a goal, recognizing that the journey itself is where the value lies.
I recently applied this “practice” mindset to the 75 Hard Challenge. Rather than fully committing or avoiding it altogether, I downloaded the app, chatted with friends about it, and started incorporating elements of the challenge into my daily routine. I wanted to understand it.
I noticed in the app if you miss one checkmark, it’s a failed attempt and you have to start all over again from day 1. The theory behind this approach is to teach you mental toughness and show you the benefits of going “all in.”
But you can fail a thousand times and start over.
That’s practice!
This concept is about resilience. It’s about the effort, the learning, and the small successes along the way. It’s about always moving forward and toward your desired goals.
So, think about the things you’re “trying” to do. Are you really putting in the effort, or is “trying” just an excuse? Maybe it’s fear of failure or not doing it perfectly that’s holding you back. What if you shifted your mindset to practicing towards your goals? What steps can you take today, no matter how small, towards achieving them?
It’s not about perfection. It’s about practice, improvement, and embracing the journey.
Let’s focus on the actions, on practicing, and see where it leads us.
