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A Quote About Motivation

8 February 2010

“Whether you think you can or you can’t; you’re right.”

So said Henry Ford, who in between building his River Rouge plant and selling the iconic Model T Henry, found time to trot out useful one liners, that have been preserved for posterity. No prizes though for guessing whether he thought if he could or could not.

This is one of my favourite quotes because it reminds me that to be successful we need to listen to what we’re saying in our head, as it’s likely to be self-limiting. However, as an additional dimension to this I’ve realised that sometimes saying ‘I can’t do this’ is as useful and as necessary as saying ‘I can.’

What Can’t You Do?

In the headlong rush to get on with our lives it’s easy to write off a ‘can’t do’ as a negative and a limitation, but my recent writing experience has made me realise that in fact we need to balance the cans with the can’ts in order to be successful and to stay healthy. For example, I can write fast when I need to, but I can’t write and drive at the same time, so completing the additional chapters needed to finish my book has meant making sensible decisions about what was a practical use of my working day (and evening and late night). Henry Ford’s quote forced me to think about what I could do and what the consequences would be, which meant taking an axe to my diary, chopping a swathe through my appointments and rescheduling clients until later on in February. I could write my book, but only if I created the space for myself to do so and although this meant making some tough choices, at least I was making them proactively and getting control over the situation. It also meant not blogging for a bit, but I’m back now!

I thought that ‘I can finish my manuscript’ and also that ‘I can’t do that and meet all my other commitments at the same time’. And I was right, so thank you Henry for making me think about both sides of the equation in a positive and proactive way.

It’s an interesting point to consider folks:

What can’t you do, in order to free up the space for something that you can do?

Do let me know how you get on balancing things out to keep motivated and healthy.

Tags: quote, thinking, tip