The other day, I was answering a basic “How are things?” email. My first answer looked something like this:
I’m crazy-busy with Leadership Development at the Austin Stone and trying to start a business.
I looked at the sentence for a while. Something…wasn’t quite right about it. I figured out what the problem was and edited it to the following:
I’m crazy-busy with Leadership Development at the Austin Stone and starting a business.
Ah. There. I am not “trying” to start a business. I am starting a business. That’s all, the end.
Does it make that much of a difference, the changing of the wording? I think it does. The first hints at a certain level of uncertainty. That isn’t what I feel about the situation, nor is it what I want people to hear when they speak with me. They should hear confidence and see a person with a plan because I am confident, and I do have a plan.
In addition, the word “try” seems to set the bar a little too low. If I fail, I can shrug it off because I “tried.” Did I, though? Did I really give my best effort when I was only “trying”? What if I change the stakes by starting something? Doesn’t that entirely alter the way I think and act?
It does, and that’s why there is no try. There is only start. I am starting a business. The end.
Image: Barron Fujimoto (Creative Commons)