If it works for a child...

My daughter who is 8 years of age came to me this morning to ask if she could go to see a friend. I told her that she could if she had cleaned her bedroom to my standards. I asked if she'd made her bed, as I knew she needed to put a clean sheet on the bed. She stood there and moaned and groaned that she needed help because she couldn't put the sheet on.

Because I am the I Can woman and I am pushing the I Can philosophy, I turned to her and was completely firm with her. I told her there is no such word as can't, only won't, and that she could do it if she put her mind to it. Well, we argued for a few moments and I repeated my message saying, "You can do this. Have a go and if you really get stuck, I'll come and help, but you have to try first."

Well, she disappeared back into her room and I waited for her to resurface to tell me that she was unable to do it. The funny thing was she didn't resurface so after 15 minutes I thought I'd go see how she was doing. When I went in she'd finished putting the sheet on and I was able to praise her for having achieved the task.

The life lesson for all here is that you can, if you want to. If you focus on the possible instead of the impossible, everything changes. You can realise your dreams, achieve your goals, conquer new skills, if you give yourself permission to try and be prepared to fail.

To find out more about the I CAN Philosophy, watch my introductory video presentation.