The C Word!

No, not that one, to be fair, that isn’t suitable in any situation or circumstance.

The C Word that I find even more offensive is CAN’T.

Seriously, I despise the word.

That said, I’ve caught myself saying it every so often and then I have to administer a good old-fashioned kick up the arse!

That said, I CAN’T eradicate it from my life, because so many people still use it.

It’s used for so many reasons, and in my experience, it’s mostly used as an excuse to get out of doing something that you know you should be doing.

I always like to give examples, but in doing so I want to ensure I don’t come across as some sanctimonious prick that has all the answers and is amazingly disciplined and has my shit together. That wouldn’t be the case, far from it.

I do my best every day to be the best I can be, and I still fall short of my own standards more often than I care to admit.

Let’s be honest we are all work in progress aren’t we.

My kids are now well on their way to flying the coup. Many say kids these days are like boomerangs, so I’m expecting that any peace and quiet will be fantastic, but no doubt short lived.

It wasn’t so long ago, when they were in school that I used to struggle to get up before 8am on a weekday. No exaggeration, I can remember many mornings where my kids would come in and kiss me goodbye for school as I was still in bed!

“I can’t get up in the mornings”, “I don’t do mornings”, “I’m a night owl”, was the usual crap that I used to spout to justify it.

Fact of the matter, I was unhappy and made an excuse.

That old routine was a few years ago now and I realised that I had to take charge of ME and make sure my life was full of positive routines, and that means things that serve me, not fail me.

So now, I can do mornings.

At the risk of sounding like my father, it’s the best part of the day.

Only this morning I was heading out for a 9am meeting and thought to myself that I probably achieve more in those first two hours from 6am to 8am than most people do in a day.

I had got up, ran 5K, lifted some weights, had breakfast, answered emails, showered and had half written this article by 0830.

This isn’t natural to me, I spent nearly all of my adult life telling myself I can’t do mornings, when in reality, I could, I just choose not to.

Make a choice, I was making a choice every day.

So now, I choose to say I can do mornings and it makes me feel great.

This piece isn’t about how fantastic I am at mornings. I use that merely as a means to demonstrate that we choose to limit ourselves by our mindset and our own thoughts and beliefs.

There was a great Monday call not so long back with Andy Stace about the Circle of Performance and how our thoughts and beliefs determine our actions and results. When I first heard that, a few years ago now, it suddenly fell into place.

If you haven’t heard that call, I suggest downloading it and viewing it again, and again and again!!

This word CAN’T stops us all in our tracks and inhibits our lives beyond measure.

We restrict ourselves to what we think we can do every day and it frustrates me when I hear it.

In my house, my office, the pub, well, anywhere really, if I hear someone saying “Oh, I can’t do that”, I’ll go out of my way to say, “Do you mean can’t or won’t”?

I know, I must be annoying, but I hate it when people don’t experience their full potential simply because they limit themselves by their thinking.

When was the last time you rang a supplier or customer and you asked a question and you heard, “Sorry you can’t do that!!”?

It’s so annoying isn’t it

I know I’ve mentioned it about one hundred times, but I did the Cardiff Half Marathon earlier this year.

How many times did someone tell me, “you can’t do that” or did I hear “I couldn’t do that” bullshit?

Unless you have some medical condition, which means it’s physically impossible and could result in death then you CAN do it, you just choose not to.

Even people who have a medical condition, who could die, still do crazy events like a marathon just to prove that you CAN!!!

Again, I risk sounding pious here.

I’m a fat welsh bloke, I love beer, wine and food. I eat too much, and I’m 18 stones or 250ish in my birthday suit!

I have no business running a half marathon and my favourite joke is the local council have stopped me running as I keep breaking all the paving stones in the local area!

But I CAN, if I choose to, do anything I put my mind to.

OK, there are some limitations. I can’t be a ballerina, but I reckon with a bit more running, my legs would look great in a tutu!

I’ll post those pics on request!

I love the old saying by someone far wiser than me. . . If you want something bad enough, you will find a way. If you don’t, you will find an excuse.

What are you making an excuse for right now?

What did you automatically say I CAN’T to when you could have said I will?

Choose to be positive and you CAN do it.