Those Who Say They Can and Those Who Say They Can’t Are Both Usually Right

A remarkable quote from a man named Henry Ford – the father of the Ford Motor Company. But what exactly was he trying to say? Maybe a little bit about belief and how it can go quite a long way. Whichever way you choose to look at this quote, it can reveal some noteworthy lessons.

Those Who Say They Can and Those Who Say They Can’t Are Both Usually Right

In essence, Henry Ford was trying to say that the moment we believe something is too hard to pursue or seems impossible to us, it is at that same moment that we resign to a future of excuses for not achieving what we truly desire. It does not mean that successful people don’t have doubts, because every single one of them does. At the very core, it means that in spite of these doubts we must come up with creative plans to overcome the things that we believe may hinder us on our journey of goal achievement, and persevere relentlessly.

To say ‘I can’t’ is a sign of laziness and a lack of discipline and patience. Patience guides us to take a step back and view the road to achieving our goal for what it is before we start. Overcoming laziness means to spur into action once we have comprehended the path to our goal and how we aim to get there, and discipline (the hardest of them all) will keep us on the road we have set for ourselves regardless of what hinderance we may face.

To say ‘ I can’t ‘ is a sign of laziness and a lack of discipline and patience.

Discipline is the hardest of these because it requires consistent applications of effort, and we must have a good reason as to why we continue to make these efforts. This ‘why‘ must be something intimately personal and something non-materialistic.

This ‘why‘ must be something intimately personal and something non-materialistic

For example, Arnold Schwarzenegger, arguably the greatest body builder of all time (The GOAT!) was driven by the desire to be the greatest bodybuilder that ever lived. It was something he could not measure, but he had made a road map (training regime and diet) that he fully trusted in and he loved the vision of having his body in tip-top shape, and nothing could stop him. He was not distracted by what the other competitors were doing because he was his own individual and he poured so much love into his body – he loved his process.

There’s a quote where he says that he would smile through his workouts unlike his other competitors because he truly loved what he did and he saw the pain he was experiencing as an opportunity to grow his muscles and get him one step closer to becoming the greatest body builder that ever lived.

This mindset of growth can be applied to many a situation – love your process and the struggle becomes worth it.

So with all that said, be that person that says, “I can and this is why” and this belief will start to propel you in the right direction. And with a little bit of discipline we can all achieve our goals. Even just start small with something like drinking 8 glasses of water a day, why? because it will make you feel better. Build your goals up each day until you are fully satisfied with the direction you are heading. And above all continue to be disciplined by the things that make you happy – the enjoyment of a process that matches your vision.