Overcoming Obstacles: The Power of 'Yet' | Anxiety Specialist | @caroline-cavanagh

5 Nov 2025 · 1 min

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In this motivational segment, the speaker introduces the three‑letter word "yet" as a simple yet powerful tool for fostering a growth mindset. By adding "yet" to statements of inability (e.g., "I can't do it yet"), listeners can shift from a fixed‑mindset narrative to one that acknowledges current limitations while opening the door to future improvement. The speaker illustrates the concept with everyday milestones—learning to walk, feeding oneself, mastering multiplication tables, riding a bicycle, and handling math or spelling tests—showing that every skill once seemed impossible. Using "yet" not only defuses arguments but also signals entry into a growth zone where failure is expected, temporary, and a stepping stone to mastery.

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got a 3-letter word for you, and it's yet. And it's one of those things that for the people that attended the live, they went, oh my God, that's brilliant! Because it's so true. Because there were many things throughout their lives that they couldn't do, but now they can. And you can reframe a lot of those. At one point they couldn't walk. At one point they couldn't even feed themselves. You know, at one point they couldn't do, I don't know, their 5 times table. So all of the things that they can now do, at some point they couldn't do. Yeah. So by Using this term, when they say, I can't do it, just responding with yet, for one, stops an argument, which is always a good start, but also allows them to recognise that they are entering this growth zone. They may fall, but that's okay because they will get up. Because they fell when they first got on a bicycle, they fell when they first got on their feet, they've got maths exams wrong, they've got spelling tests wrong. It's okay because you got up and you got better at it.