Do You ‘Can’ Or Do You ‘Do’?

Have you ever wondered why so many outrageously rich and successful people carry on working when they really don’t have to anymore?

You know, people like Warren Buffett, Oprah, Richard Branson, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Madonna, Meryl Streep et al.

I think it’s a good question, and I am pretty sure I am not alone.

Well, I think I might just know the answer.

And no it’s nothing sinister or Faustian. There are no crossroads and tall dark strangers involved.

In fact, it’s really fairly obvious.

I think they carry on because it is simply what they ‘do’ rather than because they ‘can’.

Let me explain.

Research shows that the difference between people who say ‘I can’ and people who say ‘I do’ is that ‘I can’ = a choice, a ‘yes, no or maybe’, whereas ‘I do’ = an identity, it is who you are – no decision required.

So those wealthy and successful people mentioned above ‘do’ like playing music, acting, starting companies, making investments, being entrepreneurs. Because it is who they are at their core – not because those activities are things that they can ‘do’ if they put their minds to it, but don’t actually have to (if they don’t feel like it).

The reason I mention this is because it means that we can all if we really want to, change from being ‘I can’s’ to ‘I do’s’.

And if that happens surely we could achieve anything in our wildest dreams?

Let me know what you think?