I love this quote by Henry Ford, ‘if you think you can do a thing or you think you can’t you are right either way!’

It reminds me of when I was young and said to my brother ‘I can’t swim’ his reply was ‘It isn’t that you can’t it’s that you won’t’ which of course is similar to above.

Through life and my career, I have often come across circumstances where I have thought I can’t do that but then stopped myself and thought, have you tried? If the answer is ‘no’ and it is indeed something I have really wanted to do, then I work out how I can at least give it a try. Swimming was indeed one of these, it was this that when I was younger, I was adamant I couldn’t do in fact it was the very thing that my brother was referring to in the forementioned conversation.

Growing up I was so sure I couldn’t do that thing of taking my feet off the bottom of the pool to swim, it baffled me how others could but mine stuck to the bottom of the pool, honestly not willing to remove themselves from the safety net they were in. At the ripe old age of 50 I took myself off to adult swimming lessons, lo and behold I discovered along with a few others that indeed with the right help and tuition my feet would indeed come off the bottom of the pool and spring into action.

This does indeed prove that all those years I was of course right in thinking I couldn’t swim however once I decided that the right thing to do was to get help, mix it with a little faith and belief I would of course swim just like others.

As I mentor and work with clients, I often use the above words and actions I took to demonstrate that all of us have the ability to do what it is we set our mind at. Over the years I have those who want to be confident public speaking, clients who want to change their career path, clients who when I speak to truly believe they can’t do that thing, when of course talking it through plus looking at a course of small actions they can take they discover that the thing that fills them with doubt is of course possible.

Now you may be thinking, yeah, I want to climb Everest but I can’t, of course in certain circumstances you may be right, if physically it is too demanding due to health restrictions then it isn’t ever going to be possible but you could think about what your own Everest would look like. Is it taking a few extra steps each day to increase your exercise; is it gaining confidence to write that book or speak in public? Whatever it is if you believe you can do ‘your thing’ then you are halfway there to making it happen.

If on the other hand you believe you ‘can’t do your Everest thing’ then you will be right because your ‘can’t’ becomes ‘won’t’, like me with my swimming I didn’t even try for many years because I really thought I couldn’t when it was indeed ‘wont’

So, what is your Everest? Have a think and then turn your I can’t into I can, remember your right either way!