You Can Do It

You Can Do It

By Steve Gwisdalla

Originally Published April 17, 2025

The title of this article is something you have said a thousand times if you are a parent. If you were ever a teammate on a sports team, a member of the band or orchestra, drama club, owned a puppy, or had self-doubt. I once gave an entire lecture in a career readiness class on these simple four words. As the campus Career Services Director at a college in Pennsylvania, I was required to teach a class on career readiness. I know what you are thinking. What? How many students were still awake after the eighty-minute class? The answer? All of them. Why? Because the value of which word you emphasize depends on your situation. The exercise I gave these students was this.

Say the phrase with the emphasis on the first word, you. Next, say the phrase with the emphasis on the second word, then the third and finally the fourth word. If you do this exercise, these simple four words have four different meanings with four different effects by simply doing this exercise. Here is where it would get interesting while in class. I often spoke about ‘garbage in, garbage out.’ If you listen to music or watch television shows that constantly promote violence, or are always polarizing, guess what we tend to become? And in a world where the negative is so loud and obnoxious, you just heard yourself say the words, “you can do it” four times in less than a minute. It may not be much, but it is a start.

Students became very engaged in my class, as it was all about them, not lessons about electronics, or trigonometry. It was about how they were feeling. How they were getting along in the everyday. If they weren’t in a good, positive place in their personal lives, how could they think about their careers after school was over? With that in mind, let me offer the same lesson to each of you. We in the Tribe of Up are always seeking to advocate for more joy and help people find some positive or up in a world that seems like it resents and up more and more.

Say these four words to yourself four times. Each time put the emphasis on a different word. My favorite word in this statement is do. It is the main verb of the sentence. Can is also a verb, but it is a modal verb, expressing permission or ability.

Do.

No matter what the “it” is, the do can be done. It may be losing weight. It may be finding more peace in your life. It may be being a better spouse or partner. It may be forgiving someone very hard to forgive. The it can be anything. My friends, you can do it. Let me say that again. You can DO it! Forgive the person. Make that phone call. Do the extra cardio at the gym. Be the friend you wish you had. Be the best version of yourself you can possibly be. You can DO it. The phrase doesn’t promise it will be easy. It does not promise it will go exactly the way you think it should go. But you can do it. If you think it is too big to be done, break ‘it’ up into small pieces. Do one piece at a time. You can do it. Talk to others in your tribe. Ask them what they are having trouble doing. Be their support. Be the support you would need if the role was reversed. If we all helped, supported, and lifted up those people in our tribe that need help, imagine how much better the world be. You can do it.

We can do it.

Let’s get to it. Steve is a Dexter resident and the Owner, Chief Do Officer and Director of Listening When Someone Needs an Ear at Better Place Consulting, a career, success and personal coaching organization. Reach out to him at steve@betterplacemgmt.com.