94. Remove the Word “Can’t” From Your Vocabulary.

You roll your eyes at me when I say this: Don't say the word "can't." Yes, it’s a dad joke: You can’t say can’t.

It means you're a quitter, that you've given up and shut off that spectacular mind you have.

Instead, what do we say? That's right.

"How Can I?"

There you go! Winners think in terms of how, and you, my loved ones, are winners. You're divine in your design and can do pretty much everything you think you can .

This is heard so much that it’s turned into a cliché. You hear it all over self-help books and probably see it posted by people all over social media, but it’s true.

I think Henry Ford said it.

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right. "

I’ve also heard Walt Disney say, “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible."

Anthony Robbins, one of my heroes, says, “Impossible is only a state of mind."

I know I’m talking about the big stuff and supposed impossibilities, but it works for the small, mundane things in life, too.

When you say, “I can’t find the peanut butter,” you’re actually shutting your mind off to the possibility of finding it now.

Have you had one of those experiences where you are looking for something like peanut butter, you’re searching the pantry through all of the other food (that’s a blessing, include that in your Active Appreciation), and you’re saying to yourself, “I CAN’T FIND THE PEANUT BUTTER!” And then Mom comes along and BOOM. She pulls the peanut butter off of the shelf right in front of you? Maybe it wasn’t peanut butter . . . but you get the idea. It’s happened a lot to us all.

I think it’s because our mind is so powerful that it makes our reality.

And that’s why it’s so important to never say the word “can’t.” Because if you do, you just made your own, now limited world.

Don’t say it in my presence. It’s like nails on a chalkboard to me. Don’t say it when you’re not in my presence, either .

You can’t say can’t.

The Advice in Practice:

• Obviously, try to catch yourself saying it and physically slap yourself across your face every time those words come out of your mouth or run cross your mind. I’m just kidding. About the slapping part. But seriously, be vigilant about that.
• Write out why it’s important to you NOT to say the word can’t.
• Change these sentences to get the full feeling of this.

“I can’t afford that."

to . . .

“How can I afford that?"

or . . .

“I can’t accomplish that.” to “How can I accomplish that?"

• Wow! Can you see and feel the difference? If you catch yourself saying or thinking, “I can’t,” change the wording to, “How can I?” and unleash that beautiful, incredible, sharp mind of yours on that now possible answer!
• When you ask how—and even if the answer initially is, “I don’t know”—what will happen is that your miraculous brain is going to start working on it. Especially if you’re using the idea lists and you’re an idea machine, magic will be made. Just allow the thoughts to unfold in all of their glory without nipping them in the bud with the negativity of “can’t.”

I love you, sweethearts. You can’t change that.