This guest post is by Christy Smith, of ThinkBlot Communications.
Grown-up work is hard. When you’re a kid, you don’t hear stories of unemployment, disgruntled employees, profit and loss margins, or managing this elusive concept called work/life balance. You lived in a world that was limited only by the bounds of your imagination and in that world you could do or be anything.
Navigating the halls of the workplace today is a challenge. We are stressed out, overworked, and overwhelmed. Even if we recognize an opportunity to get ahead, it often requires efforts far outside our comfort zone to make an impact. We want to do it, but we don’t know how. We start making up excuses not to do it. But the next time you have a potential career-altering opportunity at your fingertips, try saying these four little words instead:
“I think I can.”
Repeat several times. Suddenly, we are transported back to our childhood when we listened with great anxiety wondering whether the Little Blue Engine would make it over the mountain in Watty Piper’s classic The Little Engine That Could . We begin to recreate our childhood belief that we can do whatever we set our minds too.
If you are unfamiliar with the tale, a train breaks down on route to the “other side of the mountain” carrying toys and goodies for the children who live there. The toys ask for help from three capable and experienced engines, but they are refused for various reasons. Finally they ask the Little Blue Engine, who, despite never having been over the mountain or being really big enough to tow anything, agrees to try. Because this is a children’s tale, we know that the Little Blue Engine succeeds, and the story has a happy ending.
As an adult, when I’m struggling to create my own momentum, I remember the Little Blue Engine. I not only remember her, I strive to BE her. Her story taught me several things about working towards my goals, and believing in myself.
Help those who ask for it
The toys asked for help from three other engines before the Little Blue Engine. The engines they asked all had experience going over the mountain, and were big enough and strong enough to pull the stranded train with little effort. But they chose not to. Why? Because for one reason or another, they were too busy, tired, or important to do so.
One of the easiest ways to stand out is by being willing answer the call when no one else will. Volunteering for responsibilities outside your comfort zone is great way to gain new skills and perspective without having to make a full-time commitment.
Be willing to take risks
The Little Blue Engine had no experience at all outside of her train yard. She had never been over the mountain. She wasn’t considered big enough to transport cargo. But when she was asked, she was willing to try because she understood that job was important. She took on the risk, and became a leader.
If you feeling overwhelmed, the first thing you may think is “I can’t do this”. We defeat ourselves before we’ve even started, or we look for the chance to get out as fast as possible. Stepping up and risking the unknown is scary. We don’t know what we don’t know. But we owe ourselves an optimistic start. Otherwise we run the risk of shutting down and never finding out what we “could” do.
Don’t give up
The Little Blue Engine was small, and climbing that mountain was hard work. But she knew that the happiness of all of those children on the other side of the mountain were dependent on her making it over the top. It was all downhill once she reached the peak. So she pushed herself to the limit.
“I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.”
Because she focused on moving forward, she gained momentum. If she had hesitated for even a moment, she might not have made it.
We watch those around us closely to see how they handle adversity. We use their actions as our clues to how whether or not we can trust them. Don’t be afraid to show your passion and talk about what’s important to you on your journey up the mountain. Talking about what you are doing serves the dual purpose of keeping you excited and driving your forward progress.
Give yourself credit
The story ends with the Little Blue Engine saying “I thought I could!” You can sense her happiness, and the new-found confidence she feels from succeeding at something that she never thought possible.
I know every time that I make it to the end of a journey that pushed me outside my comfort zone, I feel elated. I celebrate, and then I reflect on all of things that made it possible. I want to be able to replicate that success over and over again.
There is something empowering about setting aside the limitations we’ve acquired in our journey to adulthood. When we give ourselves permission to think like a kid again, we open ourselves up to new opportunities.
This openness is necessary for our ability to grow and be our better selves. It is our challenge to recognize when fate gives us an opportunity to push ourselves and think about what’s next. Even if we aren’t sure that we can make it to the top of our mountain, it is important to start by saying “I think I can”. Give yourself the chance to know that you can do it.
Christy is the founder of ThinkBlot Communications and is a self-diagnosed Pollyanna. She is currently exploring the ways we can create positive self-dialogue to achieve our goals. She can be found at Twitter @thinkblotcom.
About Guest Contributor
Fantastic post! I agree to 100%. People tend so set their own limits. Sure, some limits are real, but many exist only in our own heads. Striving to overcome them by pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone again and again and thus finding out what we really can achieve is the most important thing to do in our lives.
Hi Lucas! I agree that many of our limitations are self-imposed. I have been delighted at all of the things I’ve been able to accomplish in the last year that I never thought possible. A willingness to try makes all the difference!
I have always loved the little engine that could! We had a VHS cartoon when my kids were younger and they loved to watch it over and over. We just need to keep that tenacity as adults and push forward with what we want out of life!
Bernice
http://livingthebalancedlife.com/2010/focus-on-be-ing/
Hi Bernice! I got completely sucked into the children’s book again as I was reviewing it for this post. Being a kid again, if even for just a few minutes, is a lot of fun. Tenacity is a great word to describe what we have to do to make progress and reach our goals as adults.
Great post Christy! I think for me, the hardest thing in all of this is giving myself credit. Being Asian, I’ve always had a “you can always do better” mentality distilled from my parents. I became so self deprecating that I never stopped to smell the flowers.
Fortunately, 6 years ago I took a self help workshop and all of that changed….
Thanks for the reminder Christy!
Cheers,
-Parker
Hi Parker! Thank you for the kind words. Self-deprecation is really tough to overcome, especially when our brains have been trained that way by others. I’m glad to hear you found a way to move past that, and it sounds like you are much happier for it!
I recently wrote a post about Living Life to the Fullest – Lessons from a 2 year old Nut Bag –
You can learn so much from a child, especially those surrounded by love. Everything is new and exciting. The most simplest of tasks are a total blast. They can’t imagine a bleak world – they can only imagine a world filled with happiness and joy. Everything is possible.
Adults become jaded. We’ve been hurt and betrayed. We’ve lost trust in others. But it doesn’t need to be that way. There is so much joy in the world – so much opportunity. Just look at a kid and copy what they do – that’s what I say 🙂
“Just look at a kid and copy what they do” – I love that Anna! Looking at the world through a kid’s eyes is a really great experience- and reminds us that the world can be a better place. Thanks so much for the comment!
I laugh at everything, and somehow get things finished more efficiently than when I put on “my serious face”. Problems will never stop showing themselves so the best thing to do is try to solve them quickly or move on to the next one before time runs out. Like the way kids take tests. I try to do this with work, fitness, and even relationships. I don’t always gets “A’s” if you will, but I manage to pass every time.
Having a sense of humor is a wonderful thing! I like that you’ve been able to tie that to your own productivity Tony. Sometimes we do take life a bit too seriously don’t we? And it’s not always about the “A”- how we work through our problems says as much about us in my mind as the end result.
A hippie chick long ago gave me a thought that stuck. “You have to choose happiness.”
MM @shooteyeout
She gave you a great gift then! Thanks for commenting.
This is a wonderful post! Everyday I’m faced with challenges that push me to my limits and out of my comfort zone. Some I was able to win over, and there are those that are just too compelling that I HAD to get out of my shell. In the end, it is the latter that always reminds me that I am capable of great things, just like the Little Blue Engine. 🙂
Thanks Stephanie! I’d love to hear more about how you are overcoming those challenges you are being faced it- it’s definitely an area I’m interested in right now. 🙂 Congrats on pushing your limits and doing great things!
Wonderful article, Christie. Don’t give up is such an important mantra. During the past two years, that little mantra has helped done some great things at work and outside of work, including releasing my first information product.
I wonder if that story was the inspiration for Thomas the Tank Engine? Hmmm.
Hi Mark- so nice to see you! It’s amazing the power of that little mantra- and I know you’ve been doing great things so it must be working. 🙂 This story predates Thomas, although I think the most current version was produced around the same time. I wondered the same thing.
I love looking to children’s books and videos for inspiration. It’s funny how the lessons seem so simple to us when we read them to kids, but we fail to apply them to our own lives!
I like doing that as well Alli! I have at least 10 takeaways from watching Toy Story 3 last weekend- I could probably write a whole blog series. 🙂
Hi Christy of ThinkBlot and “self-diagnosed Pollyanna” ! 🙂
I really enjoyed the creativity and playfulness of your approach. My project, MythofMe has relevance and synergies with what you say, as it encourages people to recall their early days.
Best of luck!
http://www.mythofme.com
It’s difficult to draw the line between “thinking big” and “being realistic”. I think for the most part, we should all be thinking bigger. But then I think of those really bad contestants on American Idol and get frustrated that they are wasting their life pursuing an unrealistic goal.
For me, I think I have a hard time admitting aloud that I know I’m good at something. I always need someone to compliment me 113 times before I feel comfortable talking about it with confidence. Although I’m getting better with that, I think. I feel compelled to be a better role model for my kids in that way.
I think that line can be blurry sometimes Tara, but I’d definitely want to fail forward and learn something than never have tried if it was something really important to me. Those American Idol contestants- well that’s another post entirely. 🙂 It sounds like you have a great reason to take credit for the things you are good at- it’s a process no doubt.
Great post, Christy!
I find it interesting that when we are kids all we try to do is “grow up”
…and once we are adults, well, we forget all those lessons we learned as kids. 🙂
– Craig
I love your self-proclaimed Pollyanna-ism, Christy. I’m one, too! 🙂
We only let adversity block us if we choose. It’s not the cards you were handed…but how you play those cards.
“I think I can…I think I can”…turns into “I *know* I can!”
Stretch, reach, grow!
Thanks for the inspirational post, and keep sharing the love!! 🙂
Is not so easy to be always positive ,but i have to agree is the key to everything.
We really are all kids and we all want’s to grow
ty again
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