You can achieve whatever you can believe and think to be true. This is the cliché understanding of achieving anything that you set your mind to, but what’s the catch? Here’s the secret:
To make anything seem possible, tell yourself that you CAN do it, rather than MUST do it.
Must You?
“Must I take out the trash? Must I give up cake to be skinny? Must I wake up early to go to work? Must I finish my assignment? So much work!”
We tend to overburden ourselves mentally, but we mistake it for physically. When we tell ourselves that we must do something, we will find every reason not to do it. As humans, this is how our reasoning works. If we do not want to believe in something, we ask ourselves if we must believe it. We then find only one reason, which in this case is all we need, to not do the thing we thought of setting out to do.
Can You?
“Can you do something for me?” is exponentially more effective than “You must do something for me.” Whether we are asking people to do something for us, or persuading ourselves, we should always use ‘can’ over ‘must.’ This allows for much broader scope of thinking. Our ego will say “Of course I can”, and our reasoning will search ways to do it. Emotions go before reasoning, and this word-play tests that theory. We are emotionally drawn to capability to do something, rather than absolutely having to do something; can versus must.
How to talk to yourself
When faced with a seemingly overwhelming obstacle, tell yourself that you CAN do it and you WILL do it. Write it in a journal, whisper it to yourself, or do whatever it takes to get the point across to yourself. In the beginning, you will subconsciously think up some reasons why you shouldn’t do it, leading you to talk yourself out of it. Remind yourself that you can and will do it, placing your natural inclination aside. This is where mind can prevail over body. Our reasoning can influence our initial emotional inclinations, and using ‘can’ over ‘must’ is a sure way to do this.