Crippled CEO Blog #109: You’re Right

Crippled CEO Blog #109:

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.” – Henry Ford

I have been fortunate in my life and in business that I’ve I met a few people who are especially excellent at fixing things — computers, cars, machinery, plumbing, and so on — and I’ve had the opportunity to watch them execute their craft. 

What is interesting, is that often times these people will dive into fixing something they don’t know about, that they have never fixed before. Most of us would say, “I don’t know anything about fixing dish washers,” and seek out assistance, but these particular people don’t do that. They move forward anyways, confident they will be able to figure it out.

I have noticed a specific trait that all these people have. 

And it’s not necessarily just experience, skill, or some innate talent.

Because in those instances where they are fixing something they don’t know about, they are looking it up on Google and YouTube. They are learning how to do it in real time. We could totally do the same thing, but we don’t and they do. 

So, what’s the difference? 

They think of themselves as people who are good at fixing things. Either they’ve done it before and had some success, or someone previously told them they had this skill, or they just decided… but either way, it became part of their identity. 

They believe they can do it, and so then they do. And when they then succeed, this creates a feedback loop confirming this identity.

But the belief came first. 

And just as the belief made them able to do it, the only thing that stopped you was your belief that you couldn’t. 

Just the story you choose to tell yourself about who you are and what you can do. 

And what’s great is that you get to decide that. You can decide that you’re the kind of person who flies a plane or plays guitar or does capoeira. And then you can. And you should. 

Because whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.

(I can’t even tell you what your mom thinks she can do. Eesh. She’s also the type of person to get this blog served to her in a text message each week by sending a text to 484848 with the word CRIP as the message. She’s a smart lady.)