I chose the image for this posting for a solid reason. If you were to ask me to guard this goal, I would gladly tell you that I will try to. The man in the picture is not trying, he is guarding it. The man is fully committed because he has lunged his body in a way that results only in his body crashing on the ground. Well done sir; you would not get that kind of commitment out of me in this regard. Try is a safe word. When we tell others that we will try, if often means we will up to a certain point, perhaps up to the point of convenience or possible cost to us.

Life has disappointed us, and we have disappointed others, to the point that most people are scared to commit to anything. Our boss may ask us to commit to a deadline. Generally, the response given is that we will try to hit it. After all, we have missed some before. What happens if we don’t meet it, will we get fired? Of course, I feel your pain when they ask for the impossible deadline because they do not understand how much work it actually takes! You want to ask them; do you even have a clue, which is not recommended if you want to keep your job. During performance reviews, they may discuss your weaknesses they’d like to be improved. Sure! We will try to do better next time.

In personal life, try rears its head again. A spouse requests from the other to be home in time for dinner, to which the reply comes that they will try. It is a priority but with all that is going on, being on time is a lot to ask for. What if the attitude was reversed? What if the other practiced poor time management in the kitchen? Let that chicken boil for an extra thirty minutes. See if it wasn’t like that big rubber chicken you buy for your dog to chew on. I bet you couldn’t wait to sink your teeth into it. Your food would be undercooked, overcooked, burnt, and downright disastrous altogether. *Raised eyebrow*, that is starting to sound a lot like my cooking!

Fear prevents us from wanting to commit all the way to something. It’s like an escape door that we leave behind us. Just in case things don’t work out the way we think they should, it lets us fall back out of the commitment. It is sort of like saying, as long as everything works out the way I intend it to, I will fully commit. If not, then I won’t be held responsible. But don’t get me wrong. There are times when all you can do is try to do your best, when committing fully otherwise can be utter nonsense. But much of the time, saying that we will try is a cop out. It’s a halfhearted, feeble attempt to comply with a request.

Any time I’ve been in charge of something that needed to get done, hearing the words I will try nearly made me want to pull my hair out. However, when try is left out of the response and do take its place, it’s like a beautiful symphony orchestra playing music that blesses my soul. Phrases like it will be done or you can count on it are an exquisite delicacy. The satisfaction in a leader’s mind to hear such fulfilling words is magnificent. Whether you say you will do something or will try, is not the main point. Deep down you always know when you are not giving your best effort. You can try to fool the boss, coworkers, friends, neighbors, spouses, children, and even yourself. The entire world may believe you, but you won’t believe yourself, unless you are truly giving it your all. When you give it your all, there will be a whole lot less trying and a whole lot more doing. Put forth your best effort!