You “Can’t”

It’s not that you can’t get ahold of the CEO.

It’s not that you can’t make Presidents Club.

It’s not that you can’t find more “A” players.

It’s not that you can’t penetrate that big account.

And it’s not that you can’t get your team to use a CRM.

It’s that you haven’t yet; and that is an entirely different situation.  The minute you say you can’t it’s over.  Done.  Put a fork in it.  Give the fat lady some roses because she’s singing.

Can’t is final.  It means exactly what it says—- You CAN’T.

So why keep trying?

I have three daughters.  In my house, we’re not allowed to say we can’t.  What we CAN say is “I don’t know how”, “ I need help”, “ I need more time”, “ I need to figure it out”, “ I need to try something different”, “That didn’t work”, “I’m stuck”.

But we can’t say “I can’t”.

What should you say instead?  How about “I haven’t yet”.   YET.  When we say I haven’t yet, we keep trying.  We accept the journey isn’t over and that we need to try new things.  We persevere.  We put in the work.  And we get it done.  We don’t stop.

It’s not that you can’t.  It’s that you haven’t.  And that’s okay.  Don’t say you can’t; because you CAN.  You just haven’t YET.