If you say "can't" you're restricting what you can do or ever will do.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the limiting belief associated with saying 'can't', which hampers one's potential.
Michael Phelps asserts that using the word 'can't' creates mental barriers that prevent individuals from realizing their true capabilities. By rejecting negative self-talk and embracing a more positive mindset, we open ourselves to opportunities and achievements that once seemed unattainable.
In practice
Using this quote during a motivational speech to inspire athletes to push beyond their perceived limits.
I want to be able to look back and say, 'I've done everything I can, and I was successful.' I don't want to look back and say I should have done this or that. I'd like to change things for the younger generation of swimmers coming along.
For so long, I looked at myself as literally a kid who was talented who would go up and down the pool. That's it. Nothing else. Very few people knew who I really was.
I don't want to be the next Mark Spitz; I want to be the first Michael Phelps
There are too many kids who are drowning for lack of water safety. That's something I'd like to do. Teaching kids to live an active lifestyle.
My goal is one Olympic gold medal. Not many people in this world can say, 'I'm an Olympic gold medalist.'
I know it won't be eight medals again. If you want to compare me to that, that's your decision, not mine. I'm going out there to try to accomplish the things that I have in my mind and in my heart.
I think it is possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary.
The most important investment you can make is in yourself. Very few people get anything like their potential horsepower translated into the actual horsepower of their output in life. Potential exceeds realization for many people...The best asset is your own self. You can become to an enormous degree the person you want to be.
If you aren't passionate about a vision, it's hard to have faith in it.
Great difficulties may be surmounted by patience and perseverance.
You've done it before and you can do it now. See the positive possibilities. Redirect the substantial energy of your frustration and turn it into positive, effective, unstoppable determination.
When prescribing one of the drugs I take, my doctor warned me of a common side effect: exaggerated, intensely vivid dreams. To be honest, I've never really noticed the difference. I've always dreamt big.
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