"If at first you don't succeed, what are you supposed to do? The standard answer, of course, is try again. But the new book, Stop Trying, by writer and former music executive Carla Ondrasik, begins from a more psychologically incisive question: What, exactly, does mean-and what does it do? Ondrasik brings a pragmatic, experience-based sensibility to questions of agency, effort, and locus of control."
"In contemporary life, trying has become a kind of moral placeholder. It signals effort and sincerity. "I'll try to be there." "I'm trying to do this project on time." "I'll try to call you later." These statements sound reasonable, but they often describe an internal state rather than a behavior. They mark intention without commitment, effort without execution."
"What "Trying" Signals Research on self-regulation indicates that vague, intention-based goals ("I'll try to...") are far less likely to produce behavior than commitments to concrete action ("I will do X at Y time"). The word try preserves ambiguity. When people say they are trying, they often mean they are expending mental energy: thinking, rehearsing, worrying"
The word "try" often signals intention without action and preserves ambiguity. Vague, intention-based goals like "I'll try to..." are far less likely to produce behavior than concrete commitments such as "I will do X at Y time." Saying "trying" frequently reflects expending mental energy through thinking, rehearsing, and worrying rather than taking observable steps. Unfinished intentions drain cognitive resources, while taking action provides relief and builds momentum. Removing or replacing "try" with clear commitments shifts responsibility toward internal accountability. Agency develops by choosing actionable control and accepting accountability, not merely by trying harder.
Read at Psychology Today
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]