“I can’t” is one of the most powerful phrases in the English language. In saying it, a person makes a claim on their spirit that they are incapable of doing something. It is a debilitating handicap to achievement as it draws energy from muscles needed and builds blocks in those areas of thinking that need to be applied to tackling a problem or action.
There are many areas in my life where I am tempted to say “I can’t”. It is an on going struggle with the vulnerability of recognizing that I have a responsibility to choose the priorities in my life. There are things I will not learn how to do. Most of those will come because I have chosen other priorities for my efforts. Others might come because I haven’t found the mentors I need to help me a long on the journey. Whatever the reason, I will only take the steps I need if I have a belief that they are possible.
The solution is one that I share with my students on a regular basis as I teach them to sing and to use instruments in ways they have not done before. It is something that takes a few more syllable to say and yet the power of the added words is phenomenal.
” I don’t know how Yet.”
Now you have a choice. Are you willing to put the time and the effort into learning what you need to in order to do it? Are you willing and able to award the small gains as you reach toward that goal without giving up because of the time it may take to reach that goal? In a small change of words, you change the power you have in affecting your life. Is it worth the extra breath?
Instead of “I can’t” …. “I don’t know how YET”.
I found this at The Math’s Magpie. I am sure, with a bit of tweeking you can come up with a similar list on your way to Yet.
Andie's writing journey 
I like how you encourage the use of Yet over Can’t. Very powerful, indeed: life-changing.
It makes such a big difference in the children’s willingness to try.
What a positive spin on “I can’t”! I wish I’d had the “KEEP CALM and READ IT AGAIN” poster in my classroom when I was a mathematics teacher. Those kids hated exams and tests so much, I think my number one advice was always, “Just don’t panic! Relax and read the question again!”
xx Rachel
Favorite Book Covers: The Year of Fog vs The Year of the Flood
Glad you enjoyed it. As a person who deals with anxiety problems of my own, I have had the best teachers to learn to work past the anxiety to learn what I need to do.
I love the message in this post. Very inspirational and not just applicable to children – a message we can all take away. I’d like to add “I’m not published yet” 🙂
You got it, Angela. In everything we do we are empowered when we think in terms of Not Yet instead of in terms of I Can’t or It will never happen. There is so much in the semantics of the words we use.