Do or Do Not – There Is No Try – Mastering Your Success Mindset

I love Star Wars.  Not only for the story, but for the ideas about beliefs and mindsets.  One of my favorite scenes was when Yoda was coaching Luke in the use of The Force in the swamp.  While levitating rocks and other exercises, the X Wing fighter sinks into the bog causing Luke to become distracted, dropping the rocks and Yoda abruptly onto the ground. The scene went as follows:

Luke Skywalker: "We will never get it out now."

Yoda: Yoda: "So certain are you?    Always with you, it cannot be done.  Hear you nothing that I say?"

Luke Skywalker: "Master, Moving stones around is one thing, this is totally different!"

Yoda: "No!  No different!  Only different in your mind.  You must Unlearn what you have learned."

Luke Skywalker: "Alright, I’ll give it a try."

Yoda: "NO! Try not!  Do!  Or do not.  There is no try."

Part of mastering a success mindset is to have awareness of your beliefs.  Sometimes this can be difficult to ascertain on your own.  A coach is trained to help you become aware of your own beliefs – whether they are supporting or hampering your progress toward your goals.  Greater awareness usually leads to better decisions.

I think that Yoda was a master coach.  What belief did he uncover that Luke Skywalker had about his own ability to use the force?

He uncovered Luke’s belief that his ability to successfully use The Force to move objects was related to their size.  Hence, he believed that the size of the X Wing fighter was too great a match for his current mastery of The Force to extract it from the bog.  Therefore, because he believed it, it become true for him.

This also reminds me of a book by Richard Bach –  Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah.  In the book, one of the messages was "Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they’re yours."  What limitations was Luke arguing for?  Yoda pointed out that the difference between moving stones and moving something bigger was only in his mind.  Yoda wanted him to choose a new belief…one that supported his goal of mastery.

Luke says something that I have heard many times before (including from myself!), "Alright, I’ll give it a try."  Pay attention to this language.  What is Luke committed to?  What is the language of commitment: "I’ll Try" or "I will do it"?    When you say "I’ll try," what do you really mean?  Yoda points this out when he says "NO! Try not! Do! Or do not.  There is no try."

Luke makes a failed attempt at raising the X-Wing fighter out of the bog.  "I can’t! It’s too big" he says exhausted.  Yoda gives him a pep talk.  Luke says "You want the impossible."  Then, as a demonstration to Luke, Yoda successfully raises the X Wing fighter out of the bog, to Luke’s utter amazement.

Luke Skywalker:  "I don’t believe it!"

Yoda: "That is why you failed."

Ah ha!  There’s that belief again.  Yoda makes Luke aware that the very reason he failed was because he didn’t believe it could be done.

What do you believe cannot be done?  Think about your own life, career and business goals.  What limitations are you arguing for?  Could it be that you don’t have time?  You don’t have the right degree?  You don’t have enough money?  What is it?

Is there something you want to do, but haven’t, in your life career or business?  What kind of belief do you have that is hindering your movement towards what you want?  How will you examine these beliefs?

The more awareness you have about what you want in life and the intertwined beliefs that are supporting you or limiting you, the faster the path toward them is cleared. A coach can help you reach those ‘ah ha’ moments that shine light on the path to your next best step, and in mastering your success mindset!

Mia Turpel is life, career and business coach.  She takes you from stressed out to STREAMLINED in your life, career or business so that you can spend more time on the things you love.  Interested in more?  Be sure to sign up for STREAMLINED ezine atwww.performancesupportpartners.com for news and information on these topics and more!  Interested in coaching? Click here to sign up for a complimentary 30 exploratory session – you will be sure to go away with insights about your big game in life.