Success comes in cans, not in can'ts.
From a purely psychological perspective, what happens right after we tell ourselves we can't? The next step after “I can't” is, “I won't even try. I'm done. Finished. Defeated.”
“I can't” is a toggle switch on the side of our brain that turns our creative mind off. It is the end of the trail. There is no next step. We are stuck, stopped, finished.
The opposite of “I can't” is obviously “I can.” It is followed by an important question, “How can I?”
The “I can't” people and the “I can” people ask the same thing, “How can I possibly do this?”
They mean the exact opposite, however.
In “I can't” mode, “How can I possibly do this!” is actually a statement disguised as a question – notice the exclamation mark? What it really means in this mode is, “There is no way I can possibly do this!” In “I can” mode, however, it is a real question. “How can I possibly do this?”
We know we don't know everything. We may have absolutely no clue about how we are going to answer that question, but we ask the question, with full intention of finding the answer. Asking the question, as a question, leads to flashes of creativity and brilliant answers. The more we practice, the better it works.
Just as quickly as “I can't” turns our creative mind off, “I can” turns our creative mind on. It gets us thinking, especially as we ask that important follow up question, “How can I?”
What is the next step? There is always a next step in “I can” mode. Ask for help, look for resources, consult, question, do something, get it done.
He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.
~ Epictetus