Which is it? Do or try?

Sometimes we get conflicting advice. That has been the case for me on the question of whether to do or to try.

Quite a few years ago someone pointed out to me the silliness of saying that I'm going to try to do certain things - probably referring to something like I'm going to try to eat less or to try to be more active. This person talked about the fact that as long as we keep saying that we're going to try, we'll probably never actually do. He pointed out that we don't usually say that we are going to try to go to the store. Nope. We just decide to go to the store & then we do the things we need to do to get there. We grab our keys, we get in the car, we start the engine & put it in gear. We turn out of the driveway in the direction of the store... The challenge was that sometimes I just need to decide that I'm going to do whatever it is that I've been trying to do.

Yoda summed up that line of reasoning quite succinctly:

       Do or do not; there is no try.

Then again... on the other hand... maybe sometimes we just have to try. Jon Acuff wrote an article about the secret word* that changes the world.

Try.

That’s it. If you’re going to change the world, all you have to do is try. Fear will tell you it’s more complicated than that. Doubt will tell you it’s not that easy. Worry will tell you that you’re not qualified. But they’re all wrong.

All you have to do is try.

So which is it? Do I just have to try? Or do I need to quit trying and making excuses? Do I need to go ahead & make a decision and then figure out the steps to get 'er done?