It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome. – William James
When I am faced with a difficult task, many things happen. I try and figure out the end result, I think about the possible steps, and yes, I may even 
think about the potential pitfalls that may lie ahead. But one thing I DON’T do is decide right then and there that it can’t be done. I’ll be honest, I have some visual perception challenges. I don’t follow picture directions well, and if I try and put leftovers in a container, it will take me two or three tries to get the right size container. So of course this summer, I took a trip to IKEA and bought myself some do-it-yourself furniture. I opened up the box, spread the stuff around opened the directions and yeah, I wanted to cry. No words, all pictures. Well, I had two choices, I could pack it up, head back down to IKEA and return what I bought, or I could try. I decided to try – mostly because my nearest IKEA is over an hour away and you have to drive though Boston to get there. So I decided, I was not only going to try, I was going to succeed. I had the right attitude. It took me a couple of tries, but I got it done, but I know that if I had attempted my task with a defeatist attitude, I wouldn’t have succeeded, and there would still be boards, and screws all over my room. But I decided I was going to put forth my best effort and because I did, I have some pretty nifty storage in my room! It’s like that with anything you do. You have to have the right kind of attitude. Think that you can, and you probably can, if you think that you can’t, you probably won’t.
