If someone were to invite you to go skiing this weekend, though you’ve never skied in your life, what would you say?

Probably: “Oh, I can’t ski.”

What if you were invited to shoot some pool?

:Oh, I can’t play pool.”

When else have people been inviting you, even daring you, to try something new, only to find you turning them down? You don’t know how to shoot pool. You’d rather stay home and watch TV than try to ski.

I think that saying you can’t do something means that you don’t want to try to do it. In fact, I would bet that if you played pool every day, not only would you be able to play the game, but you might also become the best player there is.

Now what about all of those ideas that pop into your head that you shoot down before you even consider your new thoughts? How many million dollar ideas might be passing through your head, simply to be met with, “Oh, I can’t”?

Before other people can believe in you, you have to believe in yourself. Some day, no one is going to ask you to ski. No one is going to invite you to shoot some pool. And you’ll be looking back. Maybe you really could have done it.