“Do, or do not. There is no try.”

– Yoda

This is the only Star Wars quote that my mom will actually use on me. Whenever I say “I’ll try” to something that I’m going to do, she’ll say this to me, or at least say, “No. There is no try.”

It’s a good piece of wisdom, really. I mean, we can try to do things – a new hobby, fix something that’s broken, go for a job – but in the end, you either did the thing or you didn’t. It doesn’t matter if you tried your best or not (I mean, it does matter, but you know what I mean here) because in most cases, it’s the end result that counts.

Though, it also counts if you learned something along the way. Maybe from your experience you’ll learn how to “do” the thing the next time you go at it. So don’t get the quote wrong, trying is still important. The main reason, I believe, that Yoda says this is because you shouldn’t say, “I’ll try” when faced with a task. Just say, “I will” or “I’ll do it.”

And if you don’t? Well, that’s okay. But going into something with a “I can/I will” attitude is better than just trying.