Can Do Attitude

By Kelly Clark / Connect

A can do attitude is a will do attitude
Thinking “I can’t” prevents us from reaching goals
Fear, pain and even the strength of steel are not as powerful as desire

When you’re setting out to reach a goal, having a can do attitude is half the battle.

The great thing is you can’t buy a can do attitude. It’s there, waiting for anybody who wants to take this life approach.

Passion pulls you over obstacles

I think a “can do” attitude is the same as a “will do” attitude.

When you decide you will do something, you don’t let anything be bigger than your goal. For instance, when you don’t understand something. You can either sit around and feel intimidated or you can follow the Chinese Proverb and:

Go to the heart of danger, for there you will find safety.

The idea of public speaking makes me nervous. But when my passion for the subject is bigger than my fear, it’s much easier to get up and go for it. When you believe in something, nothing gets in your way.

A Can Do Attitude sets you free

A caricature of this would be Ferris Bueller from the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. As his friend says:

Ferris can do anything
– Cameron

What he means is that Ferris will do anything. Ferris believes in himself. Ferris has a can do attitude. His approach to life makes him feel free.

Another example is Dr. Kristi Funk’s report about Angelina Jolie’s recovery from her decision to have a preventative double mastectomy. Dr. Funk states on the Pink Lotus Breast Cancer Blog that:

To a large extent, I believe recovery reflects expectation. Angelina expected to feel well, to be active. On Monday, the pathology returned and I called Angelina to confirm our biggest hope: all of the breast tissue was benign. On day four after her mastectomies, I was pleased to find her not only in good spirits with bountiful energy, but with two walls in her house covered with freshly assembled storyboards for the next project she is directing. All the while she spoke, six drains dangled from her chest, three on each side, fastened to an elastic belt around her waist.

The limiting factor is the mind

I love documentaries. Documentaries keep you in check. They help you remember what’s important. It’s so easy to magnify every little thing that goes wrong in your world if you don’t look beyond your world once in a while.

You sit in a movie theater with popcorn and watch a carefully edited hour and a half of somebody else’s reality; what they’ve lived through, second by second over the course of years. You get to be a fly on the wall and see the good, bad and ugly – the yin and yang – of a true story. The result? Awareness is created around an organization or cause the filmmaker and subject are passionate about.

One documentary that’s getting a lot of love at festivals this year is called Bending Steel. It’s about a guy who can … (drum roll) bend steel.

… (Bending Steel) explores the life of 43 year-old Chris Schoeck, a Queens, NY native who is training to become a professional Oldetime Strongman. The story follows Chris’ journey from his early days training in a small basement storage unit, to his very first performance … Alongside his trainer Chris Rider, he meets living legends and heroes within the community – and for the first time ever – he gets a taste of acceptance, something that, since his early childhood, has always felt just out of reach.

At one point in the film Chris states that “The limiting factor (in bending steel) is the mind.”

My CAN’T Do Attitude clouded the truth

The idea that wanting to reach your goal, can be a bigger force than any of the obstacles around it, is inspiring.

The idea that fear, pain and even the strength of steel are not as powerful as desire, stops me from being intimidated by things that are in the way of my dreams.

People who make their dreams bigger than their barriers motivate me.

It makes me think back to when I was trying to lose weight. For 10 years I thought my body was different to everybody else’s. This made me assume I couldn’t lose weight and couldn’t eat what everybody else who was healthy ate. This kind of thinking built walls around me; my can’t do attitude stopped me from discovering the truth.

Connecting with others sparked a can do attitude

Now I know everybody can reach a healthy weight naturally by building healthy habits.

Being open and reaching out for help brought people into my life who helped me understand how our body’s work. And how to reach and maintain a healthy weight.

Recently I heard Serena Ryder’s Song What I wouldn’t do and I liked it right away. And then when she sang:

Your love is like a river
that I am floating down
I’ve never been a swimmer
but I know that I’ll never drown…

I was in love; in love with Serena’s can do attitude.

Now, whenever I’m trying to do something and I feel self-doubt creep in, I pull myself over the next bump by saying: I know that I’ll never drown.

When there’s a will there’s a way. A can do attitude moves mountains. Understanding that truth makes all the difference.