We don’t ask “can” questions anymore

Jesse Itzler’s net worth is over $200M. But early in his career, he almost gave away 10% of his future earnings in exchange for a $10,000 loan. 

In a recent podcast appearance, Jesse breaks down the story of his early days as an entrepreneur. A sharky businessman offered him a $10,000 loan in exchange for 10% of all his future earnings. At the time, Jesse was young, ill-informed, and needed the money to make a business venture work. He was about to take the deal when he serendipitously ran into his friend’s father, who was also an entrepreneur. After telling his friend’s father about the offer, the man asked Jesse, “Will you make this work without the money?” Jesse responded, “Yeah, I’m on to something here, I believe I can make this work.” The man threw his notebook on the ground, and said to Jesse, “I didn’t ask ‘can you?’—I said ‘will you?’” 

This dichotomy is powerful. We use the word “can” to hedge our bets. I’m going to see if I can post 3 times a per week. I’m going to see if I can run more this year. I’m going to see if I can invest more of my paycheck. 

“Yeah, you probably can…but will you do it?” Jesse says in the podcast. “There’s a huge difference between checking the box because you said to yourself ‘I can’ versus actually going through and doing it.” 

Will puts us on the hook. Will changes the conversation from a place of motivation to a place of design. If you said you will, then motivation doesn’t matter. Systems matter. Strategies matter. Reputation matters. 

With your goals this year, the question is not can you? The question is will you? Are you willing to make the necessary sacrifices, to rebuild your systems, and to defeat distractions in order to accomplish your goal? 

Will you do it?