Do or DO NOT; There is No Try: Yoda

This character from Star Wars can be seen on T-shirts, Legos, games, soft toys, and miniature figurines, just to name a few. Now, I know a bunch of characters will come to mind, given the popularity of this movie series. But what if I told you, you had to pick the Ancient Wise one? Who will you be taking with you to the meditation/yoga retreat?

Yoda, I hope.

There is a reason why Yoda is everywhere. An epitome of wisdom, an inspiration to all Jedi warriors. Look beyond his grammar, and you will find that brief quips are loaded with deep, timeless wisdom.

Do or Do Not; There is no try.

To refresh your memory, this is something he says in Dagobah, part of the last instructions to Luke Skywalker, in a bid to make him more committed to the cause. It was all or none when it came to commitment, and the sooner Luke learned that the better, if not easier, his journey would be.

We have seen the all-time greats constantly marking genius as someone who can distill the most complicated concepts into simple consumable nuggets. 

Einstein, Feynman, and Shakespeare were all fans of simplicity and simple explanations to drive complexity home.

Back to basics: 1 or 0. 

Yes or No. 

On or Off. 

You are either in it or out of it. You only have one option.It is as simple as that. 

You are either getting a 100% on the test , or you are failing. 

There was a fascinating TED talk by Salman Khan, founder of Khan academy, where he spoke about honing expertise by aiming for a complete wholesome understanding than targeting a certain pass percentage in tests. Isn’t it intimidating to be 100% on everything you touch?

Needless to say, it is. 

The Jedi Master was a harsh taskmaster. He wanted it done. He wanted the Jedi masters to be in it. Clear head, clear commitment. 

The simplest of chinks in the armor can take the greatest warriors down. Luke couldn’t afford it, and the sooner he accepted that, the better for him.

It might not be hard to digest that there might have been some influence of the Yoda philosophy in James Cameron’s advice when he said:

“If you set your goals ridiculously high and it’s a failure, you will fail above everyone else’s success.”

Frankly, there is no other way.

How do you, my dear reader, feel about that? Is there really no try, just a “do or don’t”?